COMMUNITIES AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT

Council Tax Benefits

Karen Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government 
	(1)  what assessment he has made of the potential for an increase in  (a) arrears and  (b) instances of recovery action following arrears arising from (i) the replacement of council tax benefit and (ii) the 10% reduction in the budget for council tax benefit;
	(2)  what arrangements local authorities will be required to make to implement the replacement for council tax benefit; and if he will make a statement;
	(3)  what plans he has for the implementation of reductions in council tax benefit for  (a) pensioner households, (b) working age households in work,  (c) working age households not in work and  (d) households with dependent children.

Bob Neill: As the Secretary of State for Communities set out in his written ministerial statement of 17 February 2011,  Official Report, column 82WS, the Government remain committed to retaining council tax support for the most vulnerable in society and will be taking forward plans for councils to develop local rebate schemes. This reform will support the positive work incentives that will be introduced through the Government's plans on universal credit. Combined with other incentives-such as the new homes bonus and our proposals for the local retention of business rates-these changes will give councils a greater stake in the economic future of their local area.
	Government will want to work closely with local authorities and others to understand the particular issues with a local council tax rebate scheme, and a full consultation on the system of local schemes in relation to England will be undertaken in due course led by the Department for Communities and Local Government.

Council Tax Benefits

Karen Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what steps he plans to take to ensure that the local delivery of council tax benefit or its replacement will not increase marginal rates of deduction above  (a) 65% before tax and  (b) 76% for taxpayers.

Bob Neill: Promoting work incentives is at the heart of the programme of welfare reform. In developing its plans for a new system for local council tax rebate schemes, the Government have been clear that the changes should support the positive work incentives that will be introduced through the Government's plans on universal credit. A full consultation on the new system in England will be undertaken in due course.

Government Procurement Card

Andrew Griffiths: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the  (a) data of purchase,  (b) amount and  (c) supplier was in respect of each transaction undertaken by the Audit Commission using the Government Procurement Card in (i) 2008-09 and (ii) 2009-10.

Bob Neill: This is an operational matter for the Audit Commission and I have asked the chief executive of the Audit Commission to write to my hon. Friend direct.
	 Letter from Andy McKeon, dated 7 March 2011:
	Your Parliamentary Question has been passed to me to reply in the absence of the Chief Executive on leave.
	The Audit Commission is unable to provide the information requested in the time available to respond to your Parliamentary Question. However, once this information is collated we will forward the data to you.

Health Care Insurance

Andrew Griffiths: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether the Audit Commission provides health care or health care insurance funded from the public purse to any of its staff.

Bob Neill: This is an operational matter for the Audit Commission and I have asked the chief executive of the Audit Commission to write to my hon. Friend direct.
	 Letter from Andy McKeon, dated 7 March 2011:
	Your Parliamentary Question has been passed to me to reply in the absence of the Chief Executive on leave.
	The Audit Commission does not provide health care or health care insurance funded from the public purse to any of its staff.

Health Services

Andrew Griffiths: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much the Audit Commission has paid to Cigna Healthcare and Group Life in each of the last three years; and for what purposes.

Bob Neill: This is an operational matter for the Audit Commission and I have asked the chief executive of the Audit Commission to write to my hon. Friend direct.
	 Letter from Andy McKeon, dated 7 March 2011:
	Your Parliamentary Question has been passed to me to reply in the absence of the Chief Executive on leave.
	Cigna Healthcare and Group Life provide dental treatment insurance that employees can opt to take out and pay for through a monthly salary deduction. During 2008/09 the total contributions collected from employees and paid to Cigna totalled £20,956.95. In 2009/10 the amount was £23,463.06 and in 2010/11 it was £23,869.55. Employees pay the full cost of the insurance cover and there is no charge to the public purse.

Home Ownership

Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government 
	(1)  what his policy is on the continuation of Homes and Communities Agency capital funding to the home ownership for people with long-term disabilities scheme;
	(2)  how many homes in  (a) the London borough of Newham and  (b) West Ham constituency are available for people participating in the home ownership for people with long-term disabilities scheme;
	(3)  how many people in  (a) London,  (b) the London borough of Newham and  (c) West Ham constituency are participating in the home ownership for people with long-term disabilities scheme.

Grant Shapps: Home Ownership for People with Long-Term Disabilities (HOLD) enables people who are unable to access the Government's mainstream new build affordable home ownership programme, for example because they need to live in a specific location, to select a property on the open market suitable to their needs. It allows them to purchase on shared ownership terms with a housing association.
	HOLD is an "on demand" product. Capital funding is provided by my Department, through the Homes and Communities Agency, to housing providers to assist them with the purchase of suitable properties on the open market. This means homes are not available in the same way as with the standard new build shared ownership product.
	The following table shows the number of HOLD completions in London and the borough of Newham. Information is not held at constituency level.
	
		
			  Area  Completions 
			   2008-09  2009-10  2010-11( 1) 
			 London 3 4 4 
			  of which:
			 Newham 1 4 4 
			 (1 )End September.   Source:  Homes and Communities Agency's Information Management System. 
		
	
	As announced in the spending review, we are investing £4.5 billion to deliver 150,000 new affordable homes. This will include support for the provision of shared ownership property where this is a local priority, including through HOLD.

Housing: Construction

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what criteria his Department uses to determine the number of houses to be built in Mid Sussex constituency.

Bob Neill: Local authorities and communities should decide the number of houses needed in their area, based on robust evidence. We propose, through the Localism Bill, to remove regional housing targets, and to support local decisions through the New Homes Bonus. We will confirm planning for housing policy in the National Planning Policy Framework.

Local Authority: Pay

Andrew Griffiths: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate the Audit Commission has made of changes in the average salary of local authority chief executives in the last 10 years.

Bob Neill: This is an operational matter for the Audit Commission and I have asked the chief executive of the Audit Commission to write to my hon. Friend direct.
	 Letter from Andy McKeon, dated 7 March 2011:
	Your Parliamentary Question has been passed to me to reply in the absence of the Chief Executive on leave.
	The Audit Commission has not made any estimates of the changes in the average salary of local authority chief executives in the last 10 years.
	The Commission published "Tougher at the top? Changes in the labour market for single tier and county council chief executives-a discussion paper" in July 2008. This report contains some information about movements in chief executive salaries during the period 1998/99 to 2007/08 and is available on the Audit Commission website:
	http://www.audit-commission.gov.uk/nationalstudies/localgov/Pages/tougheratthetop.aspx

Promotional Merchandise

Andrew Griffiths: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much the Audit Commission has spent on promotional merchandise since 2006; how many of each item of promotional merchandise were ordered; and how each item was branded.

Bob Neill: This is an operational matter for the Audit Commission and I have asked the chief executive of the Audit Commission to write to my hon. Friend direct.
	 Letter from Andy McKeon, dated 7 March 2011:
	Your Parliamentary Question has been passed to me to reply in the absence of the Chief Executive, who is on leave.
	In the five years from 2006 to 2010, the Audit Commission spent £56,982.37 on promotional merchandise. Information about how many of each item was ordered could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
	The majority of these low unit value items, such as pens, were branded Audit Commission. They were used at a range of external conferences and exhibitions, and also by staff.
	Some of the promotional merchandise was branded Oneplace: the public-facing brand for Comprehensive Area Assessment (CAA). It was used to communicate information about the performance of local public services. The work on CAA was led by the Commission on behalf of the six partner inspectorates. Marketing costs for CAA were supported by a grant from the Department for Communities and Local Government.

ELECTORAL COMMISSION COMMITTEE

Voluntary Work and Charitable Donations

Chris Ruane: To ask the hon. Member for South West Devon, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission, whether the Electoral Commission has a policy to encourage its employees to  (a) volunteer and  (b) donate via payroll giving.

Gary Streeter: The Electoral Commission informs me that it has policies in place to allow staff to undertake volunteering and to donate via payroll giving.
	The Commission actively promotes both volunteering and payroll giving as part of its induction process for new starters, as well as through regular internal communications and specialised features on its intranet.
	Staff can request up to five days each year to undertake voluntary work, and the commission was awarded the bronze payroll giving award by the Charities Aid Foundation for the financial year 2009-10.

NORTHERN IRELAND

Departmental Food

William Bain: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will estimate the proportion of the seafood procured for  (a) his Department and  (b) the non-departmental public body for which he is responsible that (i) was on the Marine Conservation Society's list of fish to avoid and (ii) complied with sustainability standards indicated by inclusion in either the Marine Conservation Society's list of fish to eat or by the list of fish species certified by the Marine Stewardship Council in (A) 2010 and (B) 2011 to date.

Hugo Swire: The Northern Ireland Office does not keep records on the amount of expenditure on fish nor on the species purchased. This information could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
	Where possible, my Department always aims to use local Northern Ireland produce that is in compliance with sustainability standards.

Departmental Procurement

Dominic Raab: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the cost to the public purse was of the  (a) procurement and  (b) outsourcing function of (i) his Department and (ii) each non-departmental public body for which he is responsible in the last financial year for which figures are available.

Hugo Swire: Comparable figures for the Department as it is now configured are not available following the completion of devolution of policing and justice functions on 12 April 2010.
	However, for the period January 2010 to January 2011, the Department incurred costs of £32,746 on its procurement function. In addition a member of staff spends a proportion of her time managing the relationship with our procurement function. During this time, that function established contracts for the Department to the value of £1,124,000. The Department has one executive non-departmental body (NDPB), which does not have a separate procurement function. Neither the Department nor its NDPB have an outsourcing function.

Electoral Reform Services Ltd

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the monetary value was of contracts his Department placed with Electoral Reform Services Ltd in each year since 2005.

Hugo Swire: Elections in Northern Ireland are administered centrally by the Chief Electoral Officer for Northern Ireland (CEO) who is both the returning officer and registration officer for all elections in Northern Ireland. Neither the Northern Ireland Office nor the CEO has awarded any contract to Electoral Reform Services since 2005.

PRIME MINISTER

Chequers: Official Visits

Tom Watson: To ask the Prime Minister how many times he has visited Chequers since his appointment.

David Cameron: The majority of my time is spent in Downing street and I regularly spend time in Chequers and my constituency.

Public Bills

Natascha Engel: To ask the Prime Minister how many staff of his Office he expects to work on  (a) the introduction of a public reading stage for Bills and  (b) the introduction of a public reading day within a Bill's committee stage.

George Young: I have been asked to reply.
	The work to introduce a public reading stage and a public reading day, as set out in the Programme for Government and the Cabinet Office's Business Plan, will be taken forward by me, working with Parliament.
	A number of staff will work on the public reading stage in various capacities in addition to their existing responsibilities.

Trident

Julian Lewis: To ask the Prime Minister pursuant to his oral answer of 9 February 2011,  Official Report, columns 296-97, to the hon. Member for New Forest East on the nuclear deterrent, if he will rule out cancellation of the Trident replacement programme from negotiations with the Liberal Democrats in any future hung Parliament.

David Cameron: My answer of 9 February 2011,  Official Report, columns 295-96, sets out the position.

CULTURE MEDIA AND SPORT

Creative Industries

Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport what recent assessment he has made of  (a) lending to and  (b) financing of the creative industries; and if he will make a statement.

Edward Vaizey: The Department for Culture, Media and Sport together with the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills has recently commissioned research into the financing of the creative industries in order to provide evidence for the digital and creative industries growth review which reports to a Budget 2011 timetable.

Departmental Location

Simon Kirby: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport if he will bring forward proposals to relocate  (a) staff and  (b) offices of his Department to Brighton; and if he will make a statement.

John Penrose: The Department has no plans to relocate its staff and offices to Brighton.

Gambling

David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport 
	(1)  what discussions he has had with the  (a) Association of British Bookmakers,  (b) Responsible Gambling Strategy Board,  (c) Gambling Commission and  (d) GamCare on the contents of the Gambling Prevalence Survey 2010 since 11 May 2010;
	(2)  what meetings  (a) on what dates and  (b) at which locations he has had with representatives of the (i) Association of British Bookmakers, (ii) Responsible Gambling Strategy Board, (iii) Gambling Commission and (iv) GamCare since 1 January 2011.

John Penrose: I met the Gambling Commission on 14 February 2011 at DCMS offices to discuss the contents of the Gambling Prevalence Survey 2010. I also discussed the survey results with the chair of the Responsible Gambling Strategy Board (RGSB), Baroness Julia Neuberger, via telephone the same day and had a meeting with representatives of Ladbrokes where we discussed the survey briefly.
	In addition, the Minister for Sport and the Olympics (Hugh Robertson) met with the Gambling Commission on 10 January at DCMS offices to discuss sports betting integrity.
	Ministers have not met representatives of any other organisations to discuss the contents of the Gambling Prevalence Survey 2010.

Gambling

David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport 
	(1)  what steps he plans to take in response to the outcomes of the Gambling Prevalence Survey 2010 relating to trends in the level of problem gambling;
	(2)  what assessment he has made of the outcomes of the Gambling Prevalence Survey 2010 relating to B2 terminals in betting shops; and if he will make a statement;
	(3)  what assessment he has made of the outcomes of the Gambling Prevalence Survey 2010; and if he will make a statement.

John Penrose: The Department is currently considering the results of the British Gambling Prevalence Survey 2010 which was published on 15 February.
	We will make an announcement about our next steps in due course.

Internet: Social Security Benefits

Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport what estimate he has made of the proportion of  (a) all households and  (b) households in which at least one person claims a benefit that will have home access to the internet by the time of the proposed digitalisation of the benefits system; and if he will make a statement.

Edward Vaizey: I have not made a specific estimate of households with at least one benefit claimant. 73% of all households in the UK currently access the internet through one of a variety of mechanisms-broadband connection, dial-up connection via the phone line, mobile, wireless or satellite.

Ofcom

Stephen Barclay: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport what professional specialist consultancy services were provided to Ofcom in 2009-10; what the name of each provider was; what the cost per provider was; how many hours each provider worked; and how many staff each provider supplied.

Edward Vaizey: holding answer 3 March 2011
	Ofcom made use of 31 technical specialist consultants in 2009-10 as part of its overall annual programme of work. The following table sets out the suppliers used, the services provided and the total sums paid.
	Information provided to Ofcom as part of a tendering process is commercially sensitive. We are unable to provide a more detailed breakdown of the number of hours worked and staff provided by each supplier since disclosure of this may compromise future tendering processes.
	
		
			  Vendor  Description  Total (£) 
			 Aegis Systems Ltd Spectrum technology research 11,759.40 
			 Analysys Mason Ltd Competition economic analysis 771,521.33 
			 Andrew Chesher Competition economic analysis 49,335.00 
			 BDO Stoy Hayward LLP Financial analysis, BT Charge Controls 9,400.00 
			 Bentley Associates Paralegal support 14,638.34 
			 Critical Research Ltd Diversity research 14,282.13 
			 Deloitte and Touche LLP Spectrum clearance implementation 177,754.61 
			 Dotecon Ltd Spectrum auction expertise 213,869.55 
			 ERA Technology Ltd Technology research 45,783.60 
			 Ernst and Young LLP Competition economic analysis 61,850.00 
			 Essential Research Digital participation and Video on Demand market research 153,958.07 
			 Harris Interactive UK Ltd Online survey 10,420.58 
			 Illuminas Ltd Research on bundling 29,375.73 
			 KPMG LLP TV economic analysis 4,684.26 
			 LECG Ltd Economic analysis 96,915.00 
			 Mediaclarity Digital Ltd Media research and analysis 23,500.00 
			 Mott MacDonald Ltd Telecoms research 42,379.54 
			 Oliver and Ohlbaum Associates Ltd TV Economic analysis 50,963.28 
			 Oxera Consulting Ltd TV Economic analysis 141,956.14 
			 PA Consulting Group Spectrum research 105,187.50 
			 Plum Consulting Ltd Spectrum economic analysis 72,262.50 
			 PricewaterhouseCoopers Economic analysis 31,033.24 
			 Prodata Partners Ltd Technology research 42,423.50 
			 Sagentia Ltd Equipment advice and study 34,603.75 
			 Saville Rossiter-Base Telecoms and media literacy market research 371,888.94 
			 Steve Carter Telecoms advice 2,350.00 
			 Synovate Ltd Telecoms and TV research 110,481.69 
			 The Brattle Group Competition economic analysis 6,316.38 
			 TNS UK Ltd TV market research 39,675.00 
			 Transfinite Systems Ltd Software training 2,300.01 
			 Value Partners Management Consulting Sports rights analysis, analysis of regulatory changes on local radio 63,410.50 
			 Accounting adjustments Adjustments to prior year charges and accruals (40,512.50) 
			 Total  2,765,767.07

Olympic Games 2012: Human Trafficking

Peter Bone: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport what recent discussions has he had with  (a) representatives of non-governmental organisations and  (b) other interested organisations on measures to prevent human trafficking during the London 2012 Olympics.

Hugh Robertson: Regular threat briefings take place between the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport, the right hon. Member for South West Surrey (Mr Hunt), myself and the Olympic Intelligence Centre, a dedicated body comprising representation from across the Government intelligence and law enforcement apparatus that assesses strategic threats to the games. As part of this the Department have been informed that we are not currently seeing any evidence of an increase in human trafficking related to the London 2012 games.
	However, we remain vigilant and will be continuously reviewing the threat of human trafficking. The Government are determined to deter traffickers from exploiting London 2012 and we are building on the considerable expertise the UK has in tackling this issue. Should the intelligence indicate an increase in trafficking we shall ensure that the appropriate measures are in place.
	We regularly engage with non-government organisations with an interest in tackling human trafficking. Government representatives sit on the Human Trafficking and London 2012 Network which shares key issues on Olympic human trafficking issues, including dedicated sub-groups on sexual exploitation and forced labour.

HOUSE OF COMMONS COMMISSION

Flowers

Barbara Keeley: To ask the hon. Member for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross, representing the House of Commons Commission, how much the House of Commons Commission expects to spend on flowers and plants in 2010-11; and what estimate has been made of the equivalent expenditure in 2011-12.

John Thurso: Expenditure on flowers and plants in the House of Commons in 2010-11 is expected to be £116,391 and estimated expenditure in 2011-12 is expected to be some £87,400. All areas of expenditure are being scrutinised following the Commission's decision to save at least 17% of the cost of the House's administration by 2014-15.

DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER

Electoral Register

David Evennett: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of electoral registration officers in improving levels of electoral registration.

Mark Harper: The Government have made no such assessment. The Electoral Commission has the power to set and monitor performance standards for electoral services. Since 2008, the Electoral Commission has monitored the performance of electoral registration officers (EROs) in Great Britain against a set of standards, and has published annual assessments. The Commission's March 2010 Report 'Performance Standards for Electoral Registration Officers in Great Britain' found that "just under 96% of EROs met the 'Completeness and accuracy of electoral registration records' standard this year compared with 85% of EROs last year".
	The Electoral Commission advises and works closely with EROs who do not meet these standards in order to improve their performance.

WALES

St David's Day

Kevin Brennan: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales 
	(1)  what the cost to the public purse was of her Department's St David's Day reception at Gwydyr house on 1 March 2011;
	(2)  who was invited to her Department's St David's Day reception at Gwydyr house on 1 March 2011.

Cheryl Gillan: The Wales Office's traditional St David's Day reception has long been used to celebrate our national day and to bring together representatives of Welsh society to build relationships that will potentially bring great benefits to Wales. Representatives of key employers and the big society were invited, along with Members of Parliament and peers of all the main political parties. The estimated cost to the public purse from the event is £780, excluding VAT.
	The following hon. Members were invited:
	Glyn Davies MP
	Brooks Newmark MP
	Guto Bebb MP
	Alun Cairns MP
	Stephen Crabb MP
	David Davies MP
	Jonathan Evans MP
	Simon Hart MP
	Roger Williams MP
	Mark Williams MP
	Jenny Willott MP
	Peter Hain MP
	Owen Smith MP
	Elfyn Llwyd MP
	Mark Prisk MP
	Vince Cable MP

Wales: Finance

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales with reference to the Spring Supplementary Estimates 2010-11, HC 790, 
	(1)  for what reasons there is proposed an increase of £1,300,000 in voted expenditure due to an end year flexibility drawdown;
	(2)  for what reasons there is proposed an increase of £636,000 in voted expenditure offset by a reduction in capital expenditure;
	(3)  for what reasons there is proposed a switch from capital to resource of £636,000 in Request for Resources 3;
	(4)  for what reasons there is proposed an increase of £141,066,000 in grant to the Welsh Assembly Government;
	(5)  for what reason there is proposed an increase of £636,000 in voted expenditure offset by a reduction in capital expenditure;
	(6)  for what reason there is proposed an increase of  (a) £1.9 million in voted expenditure in Request for Resources 2 and  (b) £1.3 million in voted expenditure in Request for Resources 3 owing to an end-year flexibility drawdown.

Cheryl Gillan: I am responding as the questions largely relate to Wales Office expenditure. However, the query relating to the Spring Supplementary Estimates for 2010-11, HC 790,
	"for what reason there is proposed an increase of  (a) £1.9 million in voted expenditure in Request for Resources 2",
	is a matter for the Secretary of State for Scotland, the right hon. Member for Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk (Michael Moore).
	The comprehensive spending review (CSR) 2007 settlement determined under the previous Government was based on the presumption that the Wales Office would be allowed to bank underspends where they occurred and for those underspends to be carried forward under the end year flexibility (EYF) scheme to be used to meet pressures in later years. The £1.3 million EYF drawn down in the Spring Supplementary Estimates allowed the Wales Office to meet its spending commitments for 2010-11. In addition to the EYF drawdown, the Treasury exceptionally allowed the Wales Office to switch unspent capital provision to meet the pressures in the resource budget.
	The increases to the Welsh Consolidated Fund are set out in the following table.
	Details of changes to the Wales Office DEL are set out in the written statement laid in Parliament on 14 February 2011,  Official Report, column 67WS.
	
		
			  Welsh Consolidated Fund 2010-11 
			  £000 
			   Main estimates  Changes  Spring supplementary estimates 
			 Expenditure Classified as DEL 15,530,824 108,565 15,639,389 
			 
			 Expenditure Classified as AME 693,635 -322,913 370,722 
			 
			 Total Managed Expenditure 16,224,459 -214,348 16,010,111 
			  Less:
			  Non Voted expenditure:
			 LA Credit Approvals 163,396 0 163,396 
			 Other Non-Voted 6,078 0 6,078 
			 
			 Resource Non Cash 412,257 81,000 493,257 
			 AME Non-cash 555,560 -323,825 231,735 
			 
			 Total Non-Voted TME 1,137,291 -242,825 894,466 
			 
			 Total voted TME 15,087,168 28,477 15,115,645 
			  Voted receipts:
			 Contributions from the National Insurance Fund -953,184 58,807 -894,377 
			 NDR Receipts -881,810 14,810 -867,000 
			 Total -1,834,994 73,617 -1,761,377 
			 
			  Plus:
			 Housing Stock Transfer-Blaenau Gwent 45,000 -1,728 43,272 
			 Housing Stock Transfer-Gwynedd 17,329 0 17,329 
			 Housing Stock Transfer-Neath/Port Talbot 0 40,700 40,700 
			 
			 Total grant to Welsh Consolidated Fund 13,314,503 141,066 13,455,569 
			 
			 Wales Office 3,634 1,936 5,570

JUSTICE

Bill of Rights

William Bain: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice whether he plans to review Sections 2 and 3 of the Human Rights Act 1998 as part of his plans to establish a British bill of rights.

Jonathan Djanogly: In our Programme for Government, we made clear our intention to establish a commission to investigate the creation of a Bill of Rights in the UK which
	"incorporates and builds on all our obligations under the European Convention on Human Rights, ensures that these rights continue to be enshrined in British law, and protects and extends British liberties."
	A statement about the establishment of this commission, including its terms of reference, will be made to Parliament shortly.

Coroners: Finance

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how much his Department spent on training for coroners in 2009-10; and how much was budgeted for  (a) 2010-11 and  (b) 2011-12.

Jonathan Djanogly: The Ministry of Justice spent £116,692.53 on training for coroners in 2009-10. In 2010-11 the budget allocated to coroner training is £205,000. The budget for coroner training for 2011-12 is yet to be allocated.

Coroners: Finance

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how much has been  (a) spent on and  (b) budgeted by his Department's Coroners and Burials Unit for (i) staff costs and (ii) office costs, including training, travel and subsistence for (A) 2009-10, (B) 2010-11 and (C) 2011-12.

Jonathan Djanogly: The Ministry of Justice's budget and spend for the coroners and burials division for financial year 2009-10, 2010-11 and 2011-12 are as follows:
	
		
			  £ 
			  Financial year   Budget  Spend 
			 2009-10 Staff costs 972,000 1,027,500 
			 2009-10 Office costs 19,500 15,500 
			 2010-11 Staff costs(1) 625,000 625,000 
			 2011-12 Staff costs (2)- - 
			 (1) Estimated. (2) Not yet available. 
		
	
	Since 1 April 2010, the directorate in which the coroners and burials unit sits has operated a flexible staff resource model, with staff being moved around the directorate to meet ministerial priorities. The staff cost for 2010-11 are thus estimated because they are part of the overall directorate costs. Similarly, other costs are now held at a wider level than this unit so cannot be identified separately. The budget for 2011-12 has yet to be agreed and existing resources cannot be guaranteed.
	All costs across the Department will be subject to the 23% cuts announced last October in the spending review.

Departmental Manpower

Stewart Hosie: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many staff in his Department were in the civil service redeployment pool on the latest date for which figures are available; and how many of these had been in the redeployment pool for more than six months at that date.

Jonathan Djanogly: The Ministry of Justice currently has 550 staff seeking permanent redeployment. Of these, 135 have been in the redeployment pool for more than six months. These figures represent staff at all grades including senior civil servants.
	While seeking suitable alternative permanent roles, the majority are engaged in work that needs to be done to contribute to the delivery of public services, including core frontline activities, policy and project work and other operational roles.

Homicide: Compensation

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice whether provision for compensation for families of victims of murder and manslaughter is ringfenced in his Department's budget.

Crispin Blunt: Funds are allocated to the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA) so that compensation can be paid to eligible victims of crime under the terms of the criminal injuries compensation schemes. This includes relatives of those killed as a result of crimes of violence. Specific amounts within the overall allocation to CICA are not ring-fenced.
	Separately the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) funds Victim Support to provide the national Homicide Service and provides additional funding to support the families of homicide victims through the Homicide Fund.
	Following the MoJ's spending settlement, Ministers are reviewing all victims' services and carefully considering where best to allocate funds.

Human Rights

William Bain: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what his policy is on the future jurisdiction of the European Court on Human Rights in England and Wales.

Jonathan Djanogly: The United Kingdom was one of the 11 original signatories to the European convention on human rights on 4 November 1950. The United Kingdom is bound by the European convention and has recognised the jurisdiction and agreed to abide by the judgments of the European Court of Human Rights since 14 January 1966. In our Programme for Government, we made clear our intention to establish a commission to investigate the creation of a Bill of Rights in the UK which
	"incorporates and builds on all our obligations under the European Convention on Human Rights, ensures that these rights continue to be enshrined in British law, and protects and extends British liberties."
	A statement about the establishment of this commission, including its terms of reference, will be made to Parliament shortly.

International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance

David Hamilton: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice when the Government plan to  (a) sign and  (b) ratify the UN Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance.

Jonathan Djanogly: The UK fully supports the need to protect all people from enforced disappearance and was supportive of the aims of the convention upon its adoption in 2006.
	However, the convention imposes detailed and complex requirements on those states which choose to sign and ratify it and the Government are considering how the provisions of the treaty might be implemented in the UK.
	The UK only signs a treaty once it is confident it can properly implement it and once any necessary changes to legislation have been made so that domestic law is compatible with the treaty.

Juries

John Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what assessment his Department has made of the potential implications on the UK system of trial by jury of the judgment of the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights in the case of Taxquet  v. Belgium.

Crispin Blunt: The UK intervened in this Belgian case to make clear its view that the fundamental principle of UK law that jury deliberations are absolutely privileged and juries are not required to give reasons for their verdicts is in accordance with the requirements of article 6 of the European convention on human rights.
	In its judgment on 16 November 2010 the Grand Chamber found that
	"the Convention does not require jurors to give reasons for their decision and that Article 6 does not preclude a defendant from being tried by a lay jury even where reasons are not given for the verdict."
	The Government are pleased by the approach taken by the Court, which does not indicate any need for changes to the UK systems of trial by jury.

Juries: Bexley

David Evennett: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many people resident in the London borough of Bexley  (a) were summoned for and  (b) undertook jury service in each of the last three years.

Jonathan Djanogly: The following table note details on a national level basis for each calendar year from 2007 to 2009, the following:
	 (a) how many people have been required for jury service;
	 (b) how many people have been supplied to the court for jury service.
	
		
			  Jury Central Summoning Bureau figures, 2007-09 
			   2007  2008  2009 
			 Total number of summons issued 412,666 416,689 396,631 
			 Total number of jurors supplied to the court 182,661 183,506 176,351 
			  Source: Jury Central Summoning Board. 
		
	
	The Jury Central Summoning Bureau (JCSB) is not able to supply the information for the London borough of Bexley as the data cannot be extracted in this way by the computer system.
	Residents from the London borough of Bexley could be summoned to one of five different court locations which also covers other postal areas.
	Annual statistics on jury summons are published by the Ministry of Justice in the annual command paper "Judicial and Court Statistics". The most recent edition, presenting statistics for 2009, was published in September 2010.

Legal Aid

Bob Stewart: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice in how many cases people with frozen bank accounts have been recipients of legal aid in financial year 2009-10.

Jonathan Djanogly: The Legal Services Commission (LSC) does not record whether a recipient of legal aid has a frozen bank account. A recipient's bank account may have been frozen for a variety of reasons and, although this will be considered in certain cases in relation to a legal aid applicant's financial eligibility, the LSC's management information systems do not have any facility for routinely recording this information centrally.

National Archives

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many files held in the National Archives have been recalled by each central Government department under Section 4(6) of the Public Records Act 1958 in each of the last three years; and what the name was of each such file.

Jonathan Djanogly: On average, 10,000 files are temporarily returned to Departments each year largely relating to the conduct of public business. The National Archives has provided figures for files or parts of files requisitioned by Departments during calendar years 2008, 2009 and 2010. Due to the large number of files involved, it is not possible to provide individual file names. However, a file loaned back to a Department is clearly marked as such on the National Archives document ordering system, ensuring members of the public may request to view the file should it have been requisitioned.
	
		
			  Department name  Number of requisitions (file or part of a file) 
			  2008  
			 Ministry of Defence 2,305 
			 Foreign and Commonwealth Office 1,995 
			 Cabinet Office 1,157 
			 Coal Authority 722 
			 Crown Estates 610 
			 The National Archives 604 
			 Metropolitan Police Service 383 
			 Treasury Solicitors 344 
			 Department for Energy and Climate Change 326 
			 Department for Work and Pensions 322 
			 Department of Health 248 
			 UK Atomic Energy Authority 246 
			 HM Revenue and Customs 227 
			 Department for Business, Innovation and Skills 201 
			 Home Office 177 
			 Security Services 161 
			 Ministry of Justice 140 
			 Medical Research Council 98 
			 Health and Safety Executive 92 
			 British Council 79 
			 Department for the Environment and Rural Affairs 77 
			 HM Treasury 67 
			 Department for Communities and Local Government 66 
			 Northern Ireland Office 58 
			 Office for National Statistics 37 
			 Prime Minister's Office 35 
			 The Royal Parks 33 
			 Department of Education 33 
			 Attorney-General's Office 33 
			 English Heritage 29 
			 Parliamentary Estates 28 
			 Natural England 25 
			 Welsh Assembly 24 
			 Royal Mint 24 
			 Office of Fair Trading 23 
			 Crown Prosecution Service 21 
			 Veterans' Agency 17 
			 Civil Aviation Authority 16 
			 British Rail Board 16 
			 Nursing and Midwifery Council 15 
			 Ordnance Survey 12 
			 Department for Culture, Media and Sport 10 
			 Strategic Rail Authority 9 
			 Criminal Cases Review Commission 9 
			 Greenwich Hospital 7 
			 Boundary Commission for Wales 7 
			 Privy Council Office 6 
			 Atomic Weapons Establishment 6 
			 Land Registry 6 
			 Central Office of Information 4 
			 Charity Commission 3 
			 National Audit Office 2 
			 Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science 1 
			 Total 11,196 
			   
			  2009  
			 Cabinet Office 1,620 
			 Foreign and Commonwealth Office 1,283 
			 Ministry of Defence 1,161 
			 Department of Energy and Climate Change 833 
			 The National Archives 472 
			 UK Atomic Energy Authority 429 
			 Crown Estates 379 
			 Office of Fair Trading 358 
			 Ministry of Justice 310 
			 HM Revenue and Customs 280 
			 Security Services 242 
			 Metropolitan Police Service 240 
			 British Council 157 
			 Department for Work and Pensions 140 
			 Home Office 134 
			 Department for Business, Innovation and Skills 110 
			 English Heritage 94 
			 Department for Communities and Local Government 80 
			 Criminal Cases Review Commission 72 
			 Welsh Assembly 70 
			 HM Treasury 69 
			 Medical Research Council 61 
			 Department of Health 60 
			 Prime Minister's Office 54 
			 Ordnance Survey 50 
			 Crown Prosecution Service 45 
			 Veterans' Agency 35 
			 Central Office of Information 30 
			 Natural England 29 
			 Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 28 
			 Coal Authority 28 
			 Government Communications Headquarters 21 
			 Royal Mint 19 
			 Nursing and Midwifery Council 19 
			 Attorney-General's Office 19 
			 Privy Council Office 18 
			 Office for National Statistics 17 
			 Parliamentary Estates 15 
			 Treasury Solicitors 13 
			 The Royal Parks 10 
			 Greenwich Hospital 7 
			 Department for Culture, Media and Sport 7 
			 Northern Ireland Office 7 
			 Health and Safety Executive 6 
			 Strategic Rail Authority 4 
			 Higher Education Funding Council for England 3 
			 Government Actuary's Department 3 
			 Atomic Weapons Establishment 3 
			 Food Standards Agency 3 
			 Charity Commission 3 
			 Intellectual Property Office 2 
			 UK Debt Management Office 2 
			 National Savings and Investments 2 
			 Department for Education 2 
			 Palace of Westminster 2 
			 International Whaling Commission 2 
			 Department for International Development 2 
			 Civil Aviation Authority 1 
			 Total 9,165 
			   
			  2010  
			 Ministry of Defence 1,708 
			 Cabinet Office 1,156 
			 Foreign and Commonwealth Office 874 
			 UK Atomic Energy Authority 780 
			 Department for Energy and Climate Change 582 
			 HM Revenue and Customs 386 
			 Crown Estates 343 
			 Home Office 158 
			 Metropolitan Police Service 157 
			 Ministry of Justice 142 
			 Crown Prosecution Service 117 
			 Department for Work and Pensions 115 
			 Security Services 104 
			 HM Treasury 104 
			 British Council 93 
			 Department of Health 87 
			 Prime Minister's Office 70 
			 Department for Business, Innovation and Skills 52 
			 The National Archives 52 
			 Office for National Statistics 52 
			 Government Communications Headquarters 52 
			 The Royal Parks 50 
			 Privy Council Office 48 
			 Parliamentary Estates 46 
			 Department for Communities and Local Government 45 
			 Attorney-General's Office 44 
			 Medical Research Council 39 
			 Ordnance Survey 37 
			 Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 35 
			 Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 34 
			 Central Office of Information 30 
			 Companies House 30 
			 English Heritage 29 
			 Health and Safety Executive 26 
			 Veterans' Agency 18 
			 Natural England 18 
			 Greenwich Hospital 16 
			 Royal Mint 14 
			 Civil Aviation Authority 10 
			 Coal Authority 10 
			 Nursing and Midwifery Council 10 
			 Strategic Rail Authority 9 
			 Higher Education Funding Council for England 7 
			 Treasury Solicitors 5 
			 British Rail Board 5 
			 Government Actuary's Department 5 
			 Office of Fair Trading 3 
			 Northern Ireland Office 2 
			 Department for Culture, Media and Sport 1 
			 Health Protection Agency 1 
			 Criminal Cases Review Commission 1 
			 Department for Constitutional Affairs 1 
			 Charity Commission 1 
			 Welsh Assembly 1 
			 Total 7,815

Police Stations

Kelvin Hopkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice whether approved premises in England and Wales are required to have alarm links to local police stations.

Crispin Blunt: All approved premises in England and Wales provide staff with personal alarms which in some way link to local police stations. The most common arrangement is that, if a staff member activates their personal alarm, this alerts a call centre, which in turn contacts the approved premises by telephone to confirm whether an emergency has occurred. If there is no response, it is assumed that an emergency has occurred and police are alerted. In some cases, there are additional failsafe procedures such as passwords that have to be given before the call centre will accept that no emergency has occurred. Some approved premises instead have direct-to-police functions on personal alarms carried by staff. A minority of approved premises also have building alarm systems which operate in similar ways to the personal alarms.
	Approved premises provide for enhanced supervision, particularly of high risk of harm offenders on release from custody. It would be much more difficult to provide that level of supervision, were such offenders to be dispersed into less suitable accommodation in the community on release from custody.

Prisoners

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what research his Department has  (a) commissioned and  (b) evaluated on any link between income inequality and rates of imprisonment.

Crispin Blunt: The Department has not commissioned or evaluated research on the link between income inequality and rates of imprisonment. The Department has published information on income before custody, socio-economic classification, employment history and benefit take-up of those sentenced to custody in the latest "Compendium of re-offending statistics and analysis".

Prisoners: Pay

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice 
	(1)  what expenditure his Department incurred on  (a) pay and  (b) unemployment pay for prisoners in each year for which figures are available; and how many prisoners received each type of payment in each such year;
	(2)  how many foreign nationals received  (a) pay,  (b) unemployment pay and  (c) welfare-related benefits while in prison in each year for which figures are available; and what the cost to the public purse was of each such type of payment in each such year.

Crispin Blunt: The National Offender Management Service's central accounting system has a single accounting code for prisoners' earnings. It does not distinguish between: prisoners' pay; unemployment pay; foreign nationals' pay; or foreign nationals' unemployment pay. To separate each of these costs would require examining a high volume of local individual records and would thus incur disproportionate costs.
	There is no central record of the number of prisoners including foreign national prisoners who are in receipt of pay or other earnings. To provide this information would require examining local records and would thus incur disproportion costs.
	Sentenced prisoners do not generally receive welfare related benefits.
	The following table shows the total amount spent on prisoners' earnings over the last five years.
	
		
			   £  million 
			 2006-07 31.3 
			 2007-08 32.5 
			 2008-09 34.3 
			 2009-10 35.4 
			 2010-11 (1)35.6 
			 (1)( )The figures for 2010-11 are based on a forecast as at January 2011.

Prisons: Risk Assessment

David Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what disciplinary sanctions are available to the Prison Service against prison governors who do not fulfil requirements to maintain  (a) workplace risk assessments and  (b) safe systems of work; and if he will make a statement.

Crispin Blunt: Under Prison Service Instruction (PSI) 42/2010, governing governors are required to ensure that an assessment of the risks to which their staff and others who may be affected by their undertakings are exposed is carried out and that measures are in place to eliminate or control the risk. Any failure to adhere to this Instruction may be dealt with in accordance with the conduct and discipline policy of the National Offender Management Service (NOMS).
	NOMS' Conduct and Discipline Instruction (PSI 06/2010) provides a range of options for dealing with staff who fail to meet the required standards of behaviour. The primary objective of the policy is to encourage improvement in an individual rather than impose a disciplinary sanction and encourages the use of performance management processes where appropriate.
	Each case would be considered on its individual merits, but depending on the nature and potential consequences of the breach, the following sanctions are available: oral warning, written warning, final written warning, regrading, removal from the field of promotion, financial restitution and dismissal from service. In cases where the misconduct is serious but does not warrant dismissal, a combination of penalties can be awarded.

Prisons: Safety

David Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice on how many occasions the Health and Safety Executive has been required to investigate an incident in a prison in each of the last 10 years; which prison was involved in each case; whether an action plan was put in place following each such investigation; and if he will make a statement.

Crispin Blunt: The National Offender Management Service does not collect central records of visits to establishments by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) to investigate accidents.

Prisons: Violence

David Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what investigations his Department has undertaken into  (a) levels of violence in prisons and  (b) the causes of such violence in the last three years; and what the outcome of each such investigation was.

Crispin Blunt: NOMS has completed a wide-ranging review of its violence reduction strategy. The review examined individual approaches to violence management in prisons to ensure that effective practice is shared and built upon.
	The National Offender Management Service (NOMS) routinely records the numbers and rates of assault incidents. Data for the last three years that are available (2007 to 2009) are detailed in the following table:
	
		
			   2007  2008  2009 
			 Population(1) 80,216 82,572 83,559 
			 Assault incidents(2) 15,272 15,959 15,180 
			 Assault incidents per 1,000 prisoners 190 195 180 
			 Serious assaults on prisoners 1,485 1,491 1,319 
			 Serious assaults on staff 285 283 267 
			 (1) Offender Management Caseload Statistics 2009. (2) Prison violence can be measured in a number of ways. This report focuses on assault incidents including fights. Notes: 1. These figures are published annually on the MoJ website. The figures for 2010 are currently being verified and will be published later this year. 2. These figures have been drawn from administrative IT systems. Care is taken when processing and analysing returns but the detail is subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large scale recording system. Although shown to the last case, the figures may not be accurate to that level. 
		
	
	The responsibility for commissioning and managing the majority of investigations in to individual incidents, including those relating to violence, is discretionary and delegated to local level under Prison Service Order 1300-Investigations. In order to provide the information relating to the outcome of each investigation it would be necessary to contact all Prison Service establishments, ask them to check their local records and to submit this information to headquarters. This would incur disproportionate cost.

Probation Officers: Training

Kelvin Hopkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice whether probation staff in England and Wales are required to routinely attend health and safety training.

Crispin Blunt: The National Offender Management Service has issued national guidance to probation trusts on health and safety matters. This includes specific guidance on the health and safety training that trusts are required to provide routinely for their staff. Probation Trusts are required to have in place arrangements to ensure that all employees (including contractors' employees and agency staff) are suitably informed and trained about the hazards and risks in their working environment.

Probation: Alarms

Kelvin Hopkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice whether interview rooms in probation trusts in England and Wales are routinely fitted with alarms.

Crispin Blunt: Yes. Interview rooms in probation trusts in England and Wales are routinely fitted with alarms.

Probation: Redundancy

Lisa Nandy: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many probation trusts in England and Wales have issued standard notice of redundancy letters to probation staff since 1 April 2010.

Crispin Blunt: Information is not collected centrally from probation trusts to answer this question fully. The information that is available to the National Offender Management Service does not distinguish between instances of voluntary or compulsory redundancy. However, the available information indicates that staff redundancies have occurred in 21 probation trusts since 1 April 2010.

Sentencing: Crimes of Violence

Anna Soubry: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice 
	(1)  what the average length of sentence handed down to a person convicted of an offence of breaching an injunction under the terms of Section 3 of the Protection from Harassment Act 1997 in England and Wales was in each year since 1998;
	(2)  what the average length of sentence handed down to a person convicted of an offence of putting a person in fear of violence under the terms of Section 4 of the Protection from Harassment Act 1997 in England and Wales was in each year since 1998.

Crispin Blunt: The number of persons found guilty at all courts, sentenced, given immediate custody, and the average custodial sentence length for offences under section 3 and 4 of the Harassment Act 1997, England and Wales, 1998 to 2009 (latest available) is provided in the following table.
	Data for 2010 are planned for publication in spring 2011.
	
		
			  Number of persons convicted at all courts under section 3 and 4 of the Protection from Harassment Act 1997( 1) , sentence breakdown and average custodial sentence length, England and Wales, 1998 to 2009( 2, 3) 
			  Offence  1998  1999  2000  2001  2002  2003  2004  2005  2006  2007  2008( 4)  2009 
			  Section 3 
			 Found guilty 14 13 22 14 23 22 18 14 15 25 47 27 
			 Sentenced 14 15 21 18 26 24 19 15 13 24 45 27 
			  Of which: 
			 Other disposals 9 9 15 15 23 21 13 6 7 20 36 23 
			 Immediate custody 5 6 6 3 3 3 6 9 6 4 9 4 
			 Average custodial sentence length (months)(5) 4.3 8.3 4.2 5.7 3.7 3.0 2.8 6.7 3.2 1.5 3.2 3.1 
			  
			  Section 4 
			 Found guilty 522 513 574 590 639 674 717 806 875 814 839 786 
			 Sentenced 514 519 580 594 635 674 725 805 876 818 820 779 
			  Of which: 
			 Other disposals 393 397 410 436 453 548 591 648 716 678 650 609 
			 Immediate custody 121 122 170 158 182 126 134 157 160 140 170 170 
			 Average custodial sentence length (months)(5) 9.2 7.9 8.2 9.5 9.4 7.8 8.5 8.3 8.1 8.8 9.1 6.7 
			 (1) The following statutes were used for the corresponding offence:  Section 3 Breach of the conditions of an injunction against harassment Protection from Harassment Act 1997  Section 4 Putting people in fear of violence Protection from Harassment Act 1997, S.4 Religiously aggravated putting people in fear of violence Protection from Harassment Act 1997, S.4, as amended by Crime and Disorder Act 1996 S.32(1)(b) and (4) Racially or religiously aggravated putting people in fear of violence Protection from Harassment Act 1997, S.4, as amended by Crime and Disorder Act 1998 S.32(1)(b) and (4) Racially aggravated putting people in fear of violence Protection from Harassment Act 1997, S.4, as amended by Crime and Disorder Act 1998 S.32(1)(b) and (4). (2) The figures given in the table on court proceedings relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences, it is the offence for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe. (3) Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, It is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used. (4) Excludes data for Cardiff magistrates court for April, July and August 2008. (5) Excludes life and indeterminate sentences.  Source: Justice Statistics Analytical Services: Ministry of Justice.

Sponsors

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many regulations sponsored by his Department have been  (a) introduced and  (b) revoked since 18 November 2010.

Jonathan Djanogly: The only statutory instrument which the Ministry of Justice has laid in Parliament since 18 November 2010 which has regulatory impact is the Legal Services Act 2007 (Levy) (No.2) Rules 2010.
	No statutory instrument laid since 18 November has revoked regulations that have regulatory impact.

Youth Justice

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many young people have  (a) entered the youth justice system,  (b) left custody and  (c) been resettled after a custodial sentence in each year since 1997.

Crispin Blunt: Data are available from 2000-01 and the following tables show the number of young people:
	 (a) aged 10-17 receiving their first reprimand, warning or conviction for the period 2000-01 to 2009-10.(1)
	 (b) Custodial episodes(2) ending for under 18-year-olds for the period 2001-02 to 2009-10.
	 (c) We do not hold data on the number of young people who have been resettled into suitable accommodation after a custodial sentence. Local authorities have statutory responsibilities to accommodate young people in need of suitable accommodation through the Children Act 1989, the Children (Leaving Care) Act 2000 and housing legislation.
	
		
			  Number of young people aged 10-17 receiving their first reprimand, warning or conviction, 2000-01 to 2009-10, England and Wales 
			   Reprimand, warning or conviction  PND, reprimand, warning or conviction 
			 2000-01 89,857 - 
			 2001-02 88,902 - 
			 2002-03 83,266 - 
			 2003-04 88,213 - 
			 2004-05 95,670 97,720 
			 2005-06 107,187 112,730 
			 2006-07 110,188 118,164 
			 2007-08 100,105 107,269 
			 2008-09 79,851 85,354 
			 2009-10 61,422 64,761 
		
	
	(1) These data are taken from the following publication and comes from MoJ's Police National Computer. The figures have been drawn from the police's administrative IT system, the police national computer, which, as with any large scale recording system, is subject to possible errors with data entry and processing. The figures are provisional and subject to change as more information is recorded by the police:
	http://www.justice.gov.uk/publications/10-17-first-reprimand-warning-convinction.htm
	
		
			  Custodial episode ending ,  2001-02 to 2009-10, England and Wales 
			  Financial year  Remanded  Sentenced  Total 
			 2001-02 5,277 5,828 11,105 
			 2002-03 5,693 5,439 11,132 
			 2003-04 5,796 5,140 10,936 
			 2004-05 5,720 4,917 10,637 
			 2005-06 5,757 5,278 11,035 
			 2006-07 6,098 5,479 11,577 
			 2007-08 5,625 5,563 11,188 
			 2008-09 5,221 5,491 10,712 
			 2009-10 4,740 4,261 9,001 
		
	
	(2)( ) Custodial episodes ending
	The Youth Justice Board does not count the number of individual young people leaving custody, but does count the number of individual custodial episodes that have ended for under 18-year-olds. Data on the number of episodes ended for 18-year-olds are not available.
	An episode refers to a period a young person has spent in custody for a particular legal basis for detention and it is possible that one young person can start or end more than one custodial episode at different points of each year for different offences or for change in legal basis for detention, such as remand to sentence.
	The custodial episodes ending includes remand and sentenced episodes ending. Those remand episodes that have ended do not necessarily mean that a young person has left custody as they may be starting a custodial sentence upon the remand finishing.
	The information comes from the YJB's Secure Accommodation Clearing House System (SACHS) database.
	These figures have been drawn from administrative IT systems, which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing and can be subject to change over time.

ENVIRONMENT FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS

Agriculture: Subsidies

Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of the level of payments to farmers made as a result of meat controls; and if she will make a statement.

James Paice: No payments are made to farmers as a result of meat controls.

Beetles

William Bain: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what her estimate is of the size of the hazel pot beetle population in the United Kingdom.

Richard Benyon: The latest estimates suggest that that the UK population of hazel pot beetle comprises five colonies. These are located at sites in Nottinghamshire, Lincolnshire, Oxfordshire and Surrey.

Birds

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment she has made of the effects of predation on the size of the songbird population.

Richard Benyon: In 2009, DEFRA funded a wide-ranging research review to identify the causes of decline in wild bird populations. This included an assessment of the impact of predation. It found evidence that predation was, at least in some areas, having an impact on ground-nesting species such as seabirds or wading birds of wetland habitats (i.e. not songbirds). Predation was also identified as a potential driver of declines for nine woodland bird species including some songbirds such as bullfinch. Many bird and other animal species are known to predate songbirds. However, despite some studies showing a link to local declines in some bird populations at some individual sites, the evidence that predation is driving national declines is mixed. In addition, most research treats 'predators' as a single group and further research to better understand the role of individual predators and the known or likely impact of their control is required.
	A more recent review undertaken by the RSPB, specifically on predation came to similar conclusions.
	Both reports highlight one further important caveat: that there is a strong interaction with land use change-as habitats become degraded, birds are more susceptible to predation. What is clear from the research is that while predation can be important for some species in some areas, key drivers of change are habitat degradation and fragmentation, and in woodland, changes to habitat structure and so this is where our policies are focused. Improved habitat management also benefits the full range of species associated with the British countryside.

Bottle Deposit and Refund Schemes

Martin Horwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to the answer of the Prime Minister of 15 September 2010,  Official Report, column 878, on bottle deposit and refund schemes, what progress she has made in considering the introduction of a bottle deposit refund scheme.

Richard Benyon: holding answer 2 March 2011
	This issue is being looked at as part of the Government's review of waste policies in England, which is due to report in May. Those consulted in the course of the review had divergent views on deposit return schemes, which Ministers will need to weigh carefully before reaching a view.

Brighton

Simon Kirby: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will bring forward proposals to relocate  (a) staff and  (b) offices of her Department to Brighton; and if she will make a statement.

Richard Benyon: As part of the spending review, all Departments have been challenged to re-evaluate their business delivery structures, including their people and property, to drive out efficiencies wherever possible.
	DEFRA is keeping its future people and property requirements under constant review. No decisions have been made in respect of future relocations to Brighton.

Corporate Britain

Lisa Nandy: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what  (a) meetings,  (b) correspondence and  (c) other contact officials of her Department have had with officials of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills on that Department's call for evidence on a long-term focus for corporate Britain.

James Paice: My officials in are in regular contact with BIS officials on environmental issues relevant to a long term focus for corporate Britain.

Dairy Farming: Nitrate Vulnerable Zones

William Bain: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what measures her Department is taking to promote uptake of the grassland derogation to assist dairy farmers in preparing for implementation of the Nitrate Vulnerable Zone regulations.

Richard Benyon: DEFRA has used multiple channels of communication to remind farmers of the availability of the derogation and how to apply.
	The Department worked with key farming organisations before the opening of the 2011 derogation application window on 1 October 2010 so that they could alert their members and encourage them to apply. DEFRA issued an information bulletin on its website and alerted those who follow the Department on Twitter with an update on 1 October 2010. The derogation was also publicised in DEFRA's Farming Link Online newsletter.
	DEFRA's Farming Online team issued email reminders to those farmers that received the derogations in 2010. Farmers and growers who met the relevant requirements could apply for the 2011 derogation online through DEFRA's Whole Farm Approach pages during the application window.
	Furthermore, the Environment Agency issued a factsheet during the 2011 application period to all farmers that received 2010 derogation. A reminder of the deadline and ways to apply was also included in the October Fertiliser Advisers Certificated Training Scheme quarterly newsletter, 'Fertiliser Matters'. A text message reminder via the Cross Compliance text messaging service was also sent to urge farmers to reapply for the derogation.
	DEFRA officials worked again with the key farming organisations shortly before the deadline for applications to provide a further reminder to the farmers through their communications networks.

Dangerous Dogs

Simon Kirby: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will bring forward proposals to open the Index of Exempted Dogs under the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 to owner-led applications.

James Paice: DEFRA is considering a number of options relating to the control of dangerous dogs and improving responsible dog ownership. An announcement will be made shortly.

Departmental Conditions of Employment

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment she has made of her Department's adherence to each of the principles of good employment practice set out in the Cabinet Office publication Principles of Good Employment Practice.

Richard Benyon: DEFRA seeks to follow good procurement practice, drawing on advice issued by Cabinet Office in the publication Principles of Good Employment Practice and professional bodies, and promoting them to suppliers and other stakeholders where appropriate.
	We have published and publicised an Ethical Procurement Policy Statement on DEFRA's website which will shortly be updated. Its key principles reflect those in the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply's, "Ethical Business Practices in Purchasing and Supply Management". It will also support other policies of the coalition Government such as delivering the big society and increasing opportunities for SMEs and civil society organisations.
	We are also developing guidance to help procurement staff to better embed equality and diversity into contracts, taking account of the Equality Act 2010.

Departmental Redundancy

William Bain: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimate she has made of the expenditure on redundancies of public bodies sponsored by her Department in each of the next four financial years.

Richard Benyon: In autumn 2010 the Department (which includes the core Department and its network of arm's length bodies) estimated that around £190 million (2% of the overall DEFRA budget for the four-year spending review period) would be required to fund voluntary exits and redundancies.
	Due to changes to the terms of the compensation scheme announced by Cabinet Office in December 2010, DEFRA is confident that the original forecast of £190 million will turn out to be an overestimate.

Departmental Research

Sheryll Murray: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what arrangements are in place to assess the value for money of scientific evidence and advice provided by the non-departmental public bodies sponsored by her Department.

Richard Benyon: Relationships between DEFRA and its non-departmental public bodies (NDPBs) are governed by memoranda of understanding. There are two types of NDPBs: executive NDPBs, which deliver a particular public service and are overseen by a board rather than Ministers, and advisory NDPBs, which advise Ministers on particular issues.
	Executive NDPBs have their own chief scientists or heads of evidence and their own efficiency targets. Therefore, DEFRA does not routinely assess the value for money of evidence and advice provided by such NDPBs.
	With respect to advisory NDPBs, as part of a wider review of its arm's length bodies, the Department has recently reviewed the role and functions of its 18 scientific and technical advisory bodies. The aim of the review was to improve transparency and accountability. The majority of the scientific and technical advisory bodies will become expert committees. They will all continue to provide independent advice but this change will allow for greater co-ordination as the scientific expert committees will work more closely with DEFRA's Science Advisory Council and the Chief Scientific Adviser.

Departmental Research

Sheryll Murray: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent assessment she has made of the  (a) effectiveness,  (b) openness and  (c) accessibility of scientific evidence and advice that inform her Department's policy decisions.

Richard Benyon: With regard to the effectiveness of evidence and advice, DEFRA recently commissioned a pilot study to assess how evidence has informed policy decision-making within four case study areas(1). The study aimed to evaluate the impact of evidence on policy making, rather than evaluate the impact-or success-of policy decisions.
	DEFRA's chief scientific adviser (CSA) provides an independent challenge to the evidence underpinning policy decisions to assure himself that policy is informed by high-quality, robust evidence. Where specific issues are brought to the CSA's attention, or where evidence and advice is particularly complex or uncertain, the CSA will assess and give advice on them, to Ministers or senior policy colleagues.
	DEFRA's three laboratory agencies (*Fera, VLA and CEFAS) are subject to science audits about once every five years; the most recent series was completed in 2007. These audits have covered all aspects of scientific work carried out at the agencies including R and D and non-R and D to give an independent assessment of quality, balance, scope and appropriateness of the science. The timing of the next audits will depend on the outcomes of the arm's length bodies review.
	No specific assessment of the openness and accessibility of evidence and advice has been carried out recently. For core DEFRA, current practice includes publication of all R and D reports on the DEFRA website(2) and encouraging publication in peer reviewed journals.
	Statistics are produced in line with the Code of Practice for Official Statistics produced by the UK Statistics Authority(3).
	DEFRA has published an 'Information Strategy' on how it will make its data accessible to everyone and routinely publishes large amounts of data, including statistical datasets; DEFRA will soon improve its publication channels to provide greater ease of use and further increase the number of data offerings. DEFRA is also reviewing its data holdings through HM Treasury's Review of Government Data which when completed, will also lead to an increase in our publication output.
	The Government chief scientific adviser (GCSA), after cross-Government consultation, re-launched his "Guidelines on the Use of Scientific and Engineering Advice in Policy Making"(4) in 2010. These include good practice principles relating to openness and transparency and DEFRA and its non-departmental public bodies are actively working on their implementation.
	DEFRA's scientific advisory committees apply the Code of Practice for Scientific Advisory Committees(5), which has openness and transparency as a key theme. The DEFRA Science Advisory Council's code of practice makes clear that it operates a policy of openness in line with the requirements of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and the Environmental Information Regulations. The Science Advisory Council publishes full information on its website.
	* Fera-Food and Environment Research Agency, VLA-Veterinary Laboratories Agency, CEFAS-Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science.
	(1) Note:
	http://www.defra.gov.uk/corporate/docs/policy/evidence-policy-report.pdf
	(2) Note:
	http://randd.defra.gov.uk/
	(3) Note:
	http://www.statisticsauthority.gov.uk/assessment/code-of-practice/index.html
	(4) Note:
	http://www.bis.gov.uk/assets/bispartners/goscience/docs/g/10-669-gcsa-guidelines-scientific-engineering-advice-policy-making.pdf
	(5) Note:
	http://www.bis.gov.uk/assets/bispartners/goscience/docs/c/cop-scientific-advisory-committees.pdf

Dog and Cat Population

William Bain: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what information her Department holds on the effectiveness of  (a) neutering and  (b) euthanasia as a means of control of the dog and cat population.

James Paice: DEFRA has not conducted any formal research into the effectiveness of using neutering and euthanasia to control the dog and cat population, but I think it is fair to assume that without these methods the numbers of these animals would be much larger.

Dogs and Cats: Crime

William Bain: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimate she has made of the monetary value of the illegal trade in dogs and cats in each of the last four financial years.

James Paice: The Government have made no such estimates.

Electric Shock Training

Simon Kirby: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when she expects her Department's research into electric shock training devices to be completed; and by whom the research will be peer-reviewed.

James Paice: Our research into electronic training aids is due to be completed at the end of June this year. No decisions have yet been made on who will peer-review the research results before they are published.

Fish: Consumption

William Bain: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what her policy is on promoting consumption of  (a) anchovies,  (b) herring and  (c) sardines.

Richard Benyon: The Food Standards Agency (FSA) informs DEFRA of its healthy eating policy and recommends consumption of at least two portions of fish a week, including one portion of oil-rich fish such as anchovy, herring, sardine and mackerel.
	However, stock sustainability is an important consideration when recommending the consumption of fish species. DEFRA has commissioned work to understand the potential for encouraging increased consumption of herring and sardines as part of their 'Fishing for the Markets' project-an initiative to encourage domestic consumption of sustainable, under-utilised fish species. The project began last year and research is ongoing. Initial results will be available in spring 2011.

Floods: Public Expenditure

William Bain: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what representations she has received on trends in the number of householders with homes at risk of flooding refused buildings insurance by insurers after the publication of the comprehensive spending review.

Richard Benyon: The Government have an agreement with the insurance industry, the 'Statement of Principles', which helps safeguard the widespread availability of flood insurance. If cover cannot be offered on standard terms, then in almost all cases a solution may be found by householders working through specialist brokers.
	Following a summit with insurers and other flood risk management partners in September 2010, three working groups have been established to consider how to ensure flood insurance remains widely available after the Statement of Principles agreement expires in 2013. The working groups are collecting data from a number of sources, including on the availability of insurance, and are due to report this summer.

Food

Zac Goldsmith: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps she plans to take to implement the Food 2030 strategy.

James Paice: Food 2030 usefully set the scene and described the key issues facing the food chain. The Government are now taking action to meet their objectives of supporting British farming, encouraging sustainable food production, and helping to enhance the competitiveness and resilience of the whole food chain with the aim of ensuring a secure, environmentally sustainable and healthy supply of food with improved standards of animal welfare.

Forestry Commission

William Bain: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when she expects to appoint the members of the expert panel on the future of the Forestry Commission; and on what date she expects its first meeting to take place.

James Paice: The membership of the panel is currently under consideration. We will make an announcement on the panel's composition as soon as possible and will expect it to meet shortly thereafter.

Forestry Commission

William Bain: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what representations she has received from representatives of the rallying sector on the future of land owned and managed by the Forestry Commission.

James Paice: In February the chief executive of Motor Sport Association UK wrote to Ministers about the future of the public forest estate in England.
	All of the online survey responses to the closed public forest estate consultation questionnaire were anonymous. No emailed representations to the dedicated consultation mailbox were from the rallying sector.

Forestry Commission: Land

Philip Hollobone: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much and what type of land the Forestry Commission  (a) owns and  (b) leases in each parliamentary constituency in Northamptonshire; and what land in each such constituency she (i) proposes to offer and (ii) is considering offering for sale.

James Paice: holding answer 7 March 2011
	The estimated area of public forest estate in each constituency in Northamptonshire is given in the following table.
	
		
			Ownership type( 2) 
			  Constituency( 1)  Total area (Ha)  Leasehold  Freehold  Mixed 
			 Northampton North 0 - - - 
			 Northampton South 0 - - - 
			 Wellingborough 179 179 - - 
			 South Northamptonshire 1,796 397 1,256 143 
			 Daventry 98 98 - - 
			 Kettering 61 61 - - 
			 Corby 2,064 565 356 1,143 
			 (1) Where an area of woodland crosses a constituency boundary the constituency with the greater proportion of the area has been deemed to contain the whole block. (2) The public forest estate is owned by the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, and placed at the disposal of the Forestry Commissioners under section (3)1 of the Forestry Act 1967. 
		
	
	The consultation on the future of the Public Forest Estate has been halted and all forestry clauses in the Public Bodies Bill will be removed. An independent panel of experts will now examine forestry policy in England and report back to Ministers in the autumn.

Forests

Annette Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will publish a list of the forest sites within the 100,000 acres of land to be sold to which the current consultation process does not apply.

James Paice: holding answer 8 February 2011
	The consultation on the future of the Public Forest Estate has been halted and all forestry clauses in the Public Bodies Bill will be removed. An independent panel of experts will now examine forestry policy in England and report back to Ministers in the autumn.

Forests

William Bain: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 
	(1)  whether the proposed independent panel to consider forestry policy in England will have access to  (a) research and  (b) administrative support from her Department;
	(2)  whether the proposed independent panel on forestry in England will consider written submissions from the public;
	(3)  whether the proposed independent panel on forestry policy in England will meet in public; and whether minutes of the meetings of the panel will be published.

James Paice: Administrative arrangements for the panel are still under consideration.

Forests

William Bain: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 
	(1)  on what dates she met the Chancellor of the Exchequer to discuss her policy on the disposal of land owned and managed by the Forestry Commission;
	(2)  whether she has had discussions with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on consequential changes in programme funding for her Department following her recent decision on the disposal of land owned and managed by the Forestry Commission.

James Paice: No such meetings or discussions with the Chancellor of the Exchequer have taken place.

Forests

Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will assess the merits of using Section 16 of the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 to dedicate routes within the public forest estate for cyclists and horse riders.

James Paice: An independent panel is being established to advise on the future direction of forestry and woodland policy in England, on the role of the Forestry Commission and on the role of the public forest estate.
	It will report its finding in the autumn after which we will make an assessment of any potential changes.

Forests

Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much and what proportion of  (a) commercial and  (b) heritage woodland in each local authority area is owned (i) by the Forestry Commission and (ii) privately.

James Paice: holding answer 4 March 2011
	 Only the public forest estate managed by the Forestry Commission in England was classified into the four broad but overlapping types of woodland (large commercial, small commercial, heritage and multi-purpose) as detailed in the consultation on the future of the public forest estate in England.
	The illustrative map that was produced has been withdrawn following an announcement by the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Mrs Spelman) on 17 February that the consultation would end.
	An independent panel of experts will now examine forestry policy in England and report back to Ministers in the autumn.

Forests

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what arrangements are in place to ensure diversity of expertise in the membership of the independent panel of experts convened by her Department to examine forestry policy; and whether it will include experts on heritage and archaeology.

James Paice: The panel's membership is still being considered. It will include representatives of key environmental and access organisations, alongside representatives of the forestry industry. It will draw on a broad range of expertise to inform its work.

Forests: Cycling

William Bain: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to the answer of 20 January 2011,  Official Report, column 922W, what assessment she has made of potential changes in permissive access for cyclists and equestrians to forests and woodlands managed by the Forestry Commission as a result of the deliberations of her expert panel on the Forestry Commission.

James Paice: The independent panel being established to advise on the future direction of forestry policy in England will report with its findings this autumn after which we will make an assessment of any potential changes. The panel membership and terms of reference have not yet been finalised. It will include representatives of key environmental and access organisations alongside representatives of the forestry industry.

Forests: North East

Pat Glass: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent representations she has received on the sale of land managed by the Forestry Commission in the North East.

James Paice: Since the beginning of October last year, we have received thousands of representations on the sale of the public forest estate.
	We are not able to break these representations down into those that specify the sale of land managed by the Forestry Commission in the North East.

Forests: North East

Pat Glass: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent discussions she has had on the sale of land managed by the Forestry Commission in the North East.

James Paice: I have not had any recent discussions about the sale of any individual forest or wood managed by the Forestry Commission in the North East. Implementing previous sales have been the responsibility of the Forestry Commission. All new sales have been suspended as announced by the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on 11 February 2011.

Landfill

William Bain: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimate she has made of the costs to the public purse arising from  (a) the closure of landfill sites and  (b) the opening of waste management facilities in the next 10 years.

Richard Benyon: The information is as follows:
	 (a) Nearly all landfill sites are operated by private waste management companies. The costs of compliance, aftercare and closure therefore fall to the operators and not the public purse, consistent with the polluter pays principle.
	 (b) £2 billion of private finance initiative (PFI) credits have been allocated to 32 Waste PFI projects which have a total contract value of £30.2 billion. There are also a number of public-private partnership (PPP) and merchant facilities either built or planned which are privately financed. DEFRA does not provide funds to these projects from the public purse, and they are therefore not obliged to inform us of commercial or contractual data.

Maize: Imports

William Bain: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimate she has made of the number of instances of the importation of maize without an EU import licence in each of the last four years.

David Gauke: I have been asked to reply.
	HMRC tell me that from 1 March 2007 to 28 February 2011, where EU import licences were in operation, the number of declarations for release to free circulation for maize accepted without such a licence were as follows:
	
		
			   Declarations 
			 2007 83 
			 2008 80 
			 2009 89 
			 2010 102 
			 2011 15 
		
	
	These declarations were accepted without a licence because they fell below the regulatory net quantity above which such a licence is required.

Members: Correspondence

Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when she plans to reply to the letter reference MM/JH/14/01/2011 of 14 January 2011 from the hon. Member for Bridgend.

Richard Benyon: The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, my noble Friend Lord Henley, responded to the letter from the hon. Member for Bridgend on 28 February.

Nature Conservation

Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs with which  (a) civil society and  (b) other organisations in Yorkshire and the Humber the Forestry Commission in Yorkshire and the Humber has had contact in respect of (i) wildlife conservation, (ii) access or use of its woodlands, (iii) education and (iv) other issues in the last 12 months.

James Paice: The Forestry Commission's managers of the public forest estate in Yorkshire and the Humber have recorded 105 contacts with civil society and 280 contacts with other organisations in the last 12 months. Some of these were for more than one reason. I have placed a list of these contacts, including the reason for contact, in the Library of the House.

Nitrate Vulnerable Zones

William Bain: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimate she made of the level of slurry storage capacity in the dairy farming sector in preparation for the implementation of the nitrate vulnerable zone rules.

Richard Benyon: Supporting paper G4 (a report written by Entec UK Ltd) to the 2007 consultation on implementation of the nitrates directive informed the making of the Nitrate Pollution Prevention Regulations 2008. It estimated that under the option subsequently chosen, 7,099 dairy farms would need to fulfil the slurry storage requirements.
	As the area eventually designated was 62%, rather than the 70% on which the estimates were based, the actual impact is likely to have been less than this.
	This was an estimate for England only, as this is the extent of the coverage of the regulations.

Pet Advertising Advisory Group

William Bain: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when she expects the next meeting of the Pet Advertising Advisory Group to take place.

James Paice: The Government are not responsible for the Pet Advertising Advisory Group, although officials have attended meetings. We understand that the group has decided that it has served its purposes and has not arranged any further meetings. DEFRA is grateful for the work of the Pet Advertising Advisory Group.

Pet Advertising Advisory Group

William Bain: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many meetings of the Pet Advertising Advisory Group took place in  (a) 2009 and  (b) 2010; and how many such meetings have taken place in 2011 to date.

James Paice: DEFRA is not a formal member of the Pet Advertising Advisory Group, although officials have attended some of the group's meetings. DEFRA, therefore, is not in a position to provide details as to the precise number of meetings held by the group.

Rural Areas: Rallying

William Bain: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment she has made of the contribution of rallying to the rural economy in each of the last four years.

Richard Benyon: The Government recognise the local economic benefits that sports, including rallying, can generate for rural areas. However, no assessment has been carried out of the specific contribution of car rallying to the overall rural economy.

Salmon: Exports

William Bain: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much farmed salmon was exported from the UK to the People's Republic of China in each of the last four years.

Richard Benyon: DEFRA does not hold this information centrally.
	Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs does make available data that include salmon exports, available at:
	www.uktradeinfo.com
	but a breakdown of exports of farmed salmon is not available.

Salmon: Scotland

William Bain: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 
	(1)  what assessment she has made of the effects of levels of production of farmed salmon in Scotland on levels of sea lice;
	(2)  what assessment she has made of the effects of sea lice on farmed salmon stocks in Scotland in each of the last four years;
	(3)  if she will assess the potential effects on the welfare of wild salmon of an increase in the levels of production of farmed salmon in Scotland.

Richard Benyon: The Scottish Government, through Marine Scotland Science, has in place a research programme assessing the potential impacts of salmon farming on wild salmonids.
	Escapes of farmed salmon in 2010 were the lowest since public reporting began, while the Scottish Minister for Environment and Climate Change indicated recently a desire to consult on recommendations from an expert group, which would lead to further improvement in the control of sea-lice on salmon farms.

Sewers

Andrea Leadsom: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimate she has made of the number of sewers which are not adopted by a water authority.

Richard Benyon: DEFRA's 2008 impact assessment of proposals for the transfer of private sewers and lateral drains into the ownership of water and sewerage companies estimated that there are approximately 184,000 km of sewers and 36,000 km of lateral drains that connect to and affect the public sewerage system, but which have not been adopted by water and sewerage companies and are not their responsibility. In addition, some 208,000 km of sewers and lateral drains do not connect to the public sewerage system at all and remain the responsibility of their respective owners.

Supermarkets: Procurement

Andrea Leadsom: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will examine the effects on the supply of food of contracts with supermarkets which require food that is fit for human consumption to be destroyed; and if she will make a statement.

James Paice: Government and industry are working to prevent food waste wherever possible throughout manufacturing and supply and in the home. For example, the Courtauld Commitment includes ambitious waste prevention targets and many industry members are partners in the Love Food Hate Waste campaign.
	There are no legal provisions which would require retailers to destroy unsold food that is fit for human consumption. We encourage industry to work with charities such as FareShare to ensure that good food does not go to waste. However, for reasons of safety, food which has passed its 'use by' date is considered unfit for human consumption.

Voluntary Work and Charitable Donations

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether her Department has a policy to encourage its employees to  (a) volunteer and  (b) donate via payroll giving.

Richard Benyon: Community volunteering and payroll giving form part of the Department's wellbeing and corporate social responsibility strategy that its management board implemented at the end of 2007.
	DEFRA offers all its employees one day paid special leave a year for volunteering, either individually or as part of a team. It publicises details in various ways, in accordance with local practice. These include the staff handbook and dedicated Intranet web pages that provide comprehensive information on how to volunteer, its benefits and case study examples. In addition there are many voluntary public service appointments that attract paid special leave, with specified annual limits, such as justice of the peace and school governor.
	The Department also publishes information and guidance on payroll giving through the staff handbook and the intranet. This encourages employees to take part in the Give as you Earn scheme, explains the process involved and provides access to details of over 4,000 charities that are registered on the Payroll Giving database.

Whales: Conservation

Paul Uppal: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps she is taking ahead of the meeting of the International Whaling Commission in July 2011 to ensure maximum international opposition to commercial whaling.

Richard Benyon: Ahead of this year's International Whaling Commission (IWC) meeting, I plan to discuss our support for the moratorium on commercial whaling with a range of environmental and other organisations, and with anti-whaling countries.
	DEFRA officials will be meeting the 25 EU IWC contracting Governments and other anti-whaling countries in the build-up to the 63rd IWC annual meeting (IWC63).
	We will also be working with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office to raise the issue with key IWC members prior to IWC63, encouraging support for the moratorium and for the UK's position to ensure the long-term conservation and protection of whales.

CABINET OFFICE

Asylum

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what his most recent estimate is of the number of stateless people residing in the UK.

Nick Hurd: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	 Letter from Stephen Penneck, dated March 2011:
	As Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your recent question asking what the most recent estimate is of the number of stateless people residing in the UK (44818).
	The Office for National Statistics does not have the information necessary to make an estimate of the number of stateless people in the UK.

Big Society Bank

Hazel Blears: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what steps he is taking to inform holders of potential dormant accounts prior to funds being redistributed by the Big Society bank.

Nick Hurd: A distribution of funds to the Big Society Bank will not affect the rights or ability of dormant account holders to reclaim their money.
	The British Bankers Association (BBA), the Building Societies Association (BSA) and National Savings and Investment (NS&I) provide a free service for customers to trace lost accounts at:
	www.mylostaccount.org.uk

Big Society Bank

Chris Ruane: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what representations he has received on the legality of using funds from dormant bank accounts to fund the proposed Big Society Bank.

Nick Hurd: The Treasury Solicitor's department has been instructed to provide legal advice.
	Any spending direction to the Big Lottery Fund to distribute money from dormant accounts to the Big Society Bank will be made using the provisions of the Dormant Bank and Building Society Accounts Act 2008, and the Transfer of Functions (Dormant Accounts) Order 2010.

Census

Joan Ruddock: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what steps the Office for National Statistics has taken to engage with community media to promote the 2011 Census; and what budget has been assigned for publicising the Census through local and community media.

Nick Hurd: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	 Letter from Stephen Penneck, dated March 2011:
	As Director General for the Office for National Statistics (ONS) I have been asked to reply to your recent question asking what steps ONS has taken to engage with community media to promote the 2011 Census; and what budget has been assigned for publicising the census through local and community media (43253).
	As part of the overall census communication and engagement programme, nearly 200 census area managers and community advisors are contacting community and local media to raise awareness of the 2011 Census. Many media organisations have responded positively, recognising the importance of encouraging their audience to participate, and covering the census in news and editorial features.
	There is no specific budget for local and community media as the budget is defined by the audience that the advertising reaches.

Charities

Chris Ruane: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office if he will bring forward proposals to strengthen the relationship between charities and the state.

Nick Hurd: The Cabinet Office is currently considering applications to its Strategic Partners Transition programme. This will help ensure that key national representative organisations can efficiently and effectively represent the 'voice' of the VCSE sector to Government, and provide Government with a conduit to speak to the sector.

Charities

Chris Ruane: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office pursuant to the answer of 16 December 2010,  Official Report, column 88W, on charities: public expenditure, what progress has been made in examining the exposure of the third sector to public spending reductions and ways of mitigating potential impacts.

Nick Hurd: The Government are committed to supporting the voluntary, community and social enterprise sector to move forward at this difficult time, and continue to work closely with partners in the sector to understand and mitigate the impacts of any spending reductions. This includes measures to:
	Deliver transparency and accountability, so that, for the first time, the sector has clear and timely information on Government funding.
	Support best practice, to ensure local funding decisions are made wisely, and in conjunction with the sector and local communities.
	Open up public services, incorporating consultation with sector organisations and commissioners on Modernising Commissioning.
	Support the sector through the transition, by investing £100 million in the Transition Fund to create breathing space for public service providers.
	Develop the Big Society Bank to help sector organisations access much needed additional resources and investment.

Community Development

Chris Ruane: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office if he will assess the basis for any link between habitual television watching and civic disengagement.

Nick Hurd: The Department has no current plans to conduct an assessment of the link between habitual television watching and civic disengagement. The Giving Green Paper, published in December 2010, compared the average amount of time devoted to volunteering and watching television on a weekly basis. However, the paper did not seek to establish a relationship between these two activities.

Deaths

Chris Ruane: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what recent estimate has been made of age-adjusted mortality rate for each income decile.

Nick Hurd: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	 Letter from Stephen Penneck, dated March 2011:
	As Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question asking what recent estimate has been made of age-adjusted mortality rate for each income decile (44095).
	The tables attached provide the age-standardised mortality rate per 100,000 population, for each income deprivation decile, in England (Table 1) and in Wales (Table 2), for 2009 (the latest year available).
	Income deprivation deciles are based on an estimate of the proportion of people with low income in the area of usual residence of the deceased rather than on the individual's own actual income, which is not recorded at death registration. Income scores for areas in England and Wales are available as part of the Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) 2007 and Welsh Index of Multiple Deprivation (WIMD) 2008 respectively. The scores for lower layer super output areas (LSOAs) were ranked and divided into deciles, ranging from the least deprived tenth of areas to the most deprived tenth of areas.
	
		
			  Table 1:  Age-standardised mortality rates( 1)  with 95% confidence limits( 2) , for each income deprivation decile( 3)  in England( 4) , 2009( 5) 
			95% confidence limits 
			  Decile  Rate per 100,000  Lower limit  Upper limit 
			 Least deprived 399 395 404 
			 2 439 435 443 
			 3 468 464 472 
			 4 494 489 498 
			 5 514 509 519 
			 6 547 543 552 
			 7 597 591 602 
			 8 659 653 664 
			 9 705 699 712 
			 Most deprived 784 776 791 
			 (1) Age-standardised mortality rates per 100,000 population, standardised to the European Standard Population. Age-standardised rates are used to allow comparison between populations which may contain different proportions of people of different ages. (2) Confidence intervals are a measure of the statistical precision of an estimate and show the range of uncertainty around the estimated figure. As a general rule, if the confidence interval around one figure overlaps with the interval around another, we cannot say with certainty that there is more than a chance difference between the two figures. (3) Based on the income domain of the Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) 2007. (4) Figures for England exclude deaths of non-residents. (5) Figures are based on deaths registered in 2009. 
		
	
	
		
			  Table 2:  Age-standardised mortality rates( 1)  with 95% confidence limits( 2) , for each income deprivation decile( 3)  in  Wales( 4) , 2009( 5) 
			95% confidence limits 
			  Decile  Rate per 100,000  Lower limit  Upper limit 
			 Least deprived 444 426 462 
			 2 469 451 487 
			 3 507 489 525 
			 4 545 526 564 
			 5 545 526 564 
			 6 588 568 608 
			 7 627 605 648 
			 8 682 659 705 
			 9 742 717 767 
			 Most deprived 807 780 834 
			 (1) Age-standardised mortality rates per 100,000 population, standardised to the European Standard Population. Age-standardised rates are used to allow comparison between populations which may contain different proportions of people of different ages. (2) Confidence intervals are a measure of the statistical precision of an estimate and show the range of uncertainty around the estimated figure. As a general rule, if the confidence interval around one figure overlaps with the interval around another, we cannot say with certainty that there is more than a chance difference between the two figures. (3) Based on the income domain of the Welsh Index of Multiple Deprivation (WIMD) 2008. (4) Figures for Wales exclude deaths of non-residents. (5) Figures are based on deaths registered in 2009. 
		
	
	 Notes:
	1. The Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) 2007 is the official measure of deprivation for small areas in England. It was commissioned by Communities and Local Government (CLG) and developed by the Social Disadvantage Research Centre at the university of Oxford. It consists of seven domains: income; employment; health and disability; education skills and training; barriers to housing and services; living environment; and crime. More information about the index can be found at the following link:
	http://www.communities.gov.uk/publications/communities/indiciesdeprivation07
	2. The IMD 2010 is due to be released on 24 March 2011.
	3. The Welsh Index of Multiple Deprivation (WIMD) 2008 is the official measure of deprivation for small areas in Wales. It was developed for the Welsh Assembly Government by the Assembly's Statistical Directorate and the Local Government Data Unit (Wales). It consists of eight domains: income; employment; health; education; housing; access to services; environment; and community safety. More information about the index can be found at the following link:
	http://wales.gov.uk/topics/statistics/theme/wimd/2008/?lang=en
	4. There are 32,482 lower layer super output areas (LSOAs) in England and 1,896 in Wales. The number of LSOAs in each income deprivation decile is detailed in table 3 below.
	
		
			  Table 3: Number of lower layer super output areas (LSOAs) in each income deprivation decile, Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) 2007 and Welsh Index of Multiple Deprivation (WIMD) 2008 
			  Decile  IMD 2007  WIMD 2008 
			 Least deprived 3,249 186 
			 2 3,249 190 
			 3 3,248 190 
			 4 3,249 190 
			 5 3,247 190 
			 6 3,249 190 
			 7 3,247 190 
			 8 3,249 190 
			 9 3,248 190 
			 Most deprived 3,247 190 
		
	
	5. Data are extracted from the SOPHIE database using the latest boundaries for consistency. This means that figures for past time periods can sometimes differ from those previously published by ONS for those periods, where boundaries have changed over time.

Deaths: Children

John Hemming: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many children have died where child  (a) abuse and  (b) neglect was recorded as a contributory factor in each year since 1990.

Nick Hurd: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	 Letter from Stephen Penneck, dated March 2011:
	.
	The information collected at death registration provides statistics on deaths which were caused by specific conditions or injuries. It is not possible to obtain from these mortality statistics the contributory factors of child abuse or neglect.
	Internationally accepted guidance from the World Health Organisation requires only those conditions that contributed directly to the death to be recorded on the death certificate. Medical practitioners and coroners are not supposed to record all of the diseases or conditions present at or before death, and whether a condition contributed is a matter for their clinical judgement.
	When a death has been investigated by a coroner further information may be available to ONS in the form of coroner's inquest text but this information cannot be extracted without disproportionate costs.
	Further information on child mortality statistics is published on the Office for National Statistics website:
	http://www.statistics.gov.uk/StatBase/Product. asp?vlnk=15362

Population: Yemen

Keith Vaz: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what estimate has been made of the amount of remittances from British Yemenis to Yemen in each of the last five years.

Nick Hurd: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	 Letter from Stephen Penneck, dated March 2011:
	As Director General for the Office for National Statistics (ONS), I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question to ask the Minister of the Cabinet Office what estimate has been made of the amount of remittances from British Yemenis to Yemen in each of the last five years.
	The UK Balance of Payments (Pink Book, table 5.1, p79) includes statistics for 'other payment by households', which includes data on remittances. However, ONS does not publish estimates analysed by country because they are not considered to be of sufficient quality and so, figures for Yemen are not available.

Suicide

Chris Ruane: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what recent assessment he has made of suicide rates in each socio-economic group.

Nick Hurd: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.
	 Letter from Stephen Penneck, dated March 2011:
	As Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question asking about suicide rates in each socioeconomic group (044807).
	The table attached provides age-standardised mortality rates by the National Statistics Socio-economic Classification (NS-SEC) where suicide was the underlying cause of death, for men aged 25-64 in England and Wales, for 2001-03.
	The corresponding rates for women are not shown as the analysis by NS-SEC focuses only on major causes of death, both because of resource limitations and because of the reduced reliability of rates based on small numbers. Suicide is a large enough cause of death for men to have come within the scope of the analysis quoted, but not a large enough cause for women.
	More recent estimates are not available because it is not possible to obtain sufficiently reliable population denominators by NS-SEC class (in addition to age and sex) for analysis by individual causes of death, except at the time of the decennial Census. The figures attached were based on deaths registered in 2001-03, the 2001 Census, and ONS population estimates for England and Wales for the years 2001-03.
	These figures were published in Health Statistics Quarterly (volume 38, page 27) in 2008. Details can be found at:
	http://www.statistics.gov.uk/downloads/theme_health/HSQ38_Final_WEB_file.pdf
	
		
			  Age standardised( 1)  mortality rates from suicide and events of undetermined intent( 2) , by NS-SEC class, men aged 25-64, England and Wales 
			  Rate per million 
			   NS-SEC analytic class  Rate  Lower 95% confidence interval  Upper 95% confidence interval 
			 1 Higher managerial and professional occupations 74 68 81 
			  1.1 Large employers, higher managers 47 40 55 
			  1.2 Higher professionals 94 85 105 
			 2 Lower managerial and professional 111 104 118 
			 3 Intermediate 175 158 193 
			 4 Small employers and own a/c workers 154 143 166 
			 5 Lower supervisory and technical 136 127 146 
			 6 Semi-routine 243 229 258 
			 7 Routine 268 255 282 
			  
			  All men in England and Wales 188 184 192 
			 (1) Age standardised mortality rates per million population. Standardised rates allow comparison between populations which may contain different proportions of people of different ages. (2) Suicide was defined using the International Classification of Diseases Tenth Revision (ICD-10) codes X60-X84 and Y10-Y34 (excluding Y33.9 where the Coroner's verdict was pending).

Third Sector: Finance

Chris Ruane: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what funding his Department provided to strengthen charities and civil societies in each year since 1997.

Nick Hurd: The Office of the Third Sector (now the Office for Civil Society) was established in the Cabinet Office in May 2006. Since then, expenditure by the Cabinet Office on programmes to support civil society organisations has been reported separately in the Cabinet Office annual report and accounts. Each year, note 11 of the accounts breaks down this expenditure by programme.

Unemployment: Airdrie

Pamela Nash: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what recent estimate he has made of the number of workless households in Airdrie and Shotts constituency.

Nick Hurd: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	 Letter from Stephen Penneck, dated March 2011:
	As Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question asking what recent estimate has been made of the number of workless households in Airdrie and Shotts constituency (44804).
	The figures requested come from the Annual Population Survey (APS) household datasets. The latest data currently available is for 2009. The attached table shows estimates for Airdrie and Shott constituency.
	As with any sample survey, estimates from the APS are subject to a margin of uncertainty. This is captured in a confidence interval, defined by lower and upper bounds, such that the interval formed between the bounds would contain the true value for 95% of all possible samples.
	
		
			  Number of workless households( 1)  in Airdrie and Shott constituency 
			  Thousand 
			   Estimate  Lower bound( 2)  Upper bound( 2) 
			 January to December 2009 6 4 8 
			 (1) Households containing at least one person aged 16-64, where all individuals aged 16 or over are not in employment. (2) 95% confidence interval.  Source: APS household dataset

Voluntary Organisations

Chris Ruane: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what progress has been made on establishing a Big Society day.

Nick Hurd: The Government have been working to build a culture of social action. As part of this, a Giving Green Paper was published in December 2010 containing a range of ideas to encourage the giving of time and money, and these ideas will be developed in a White Paper to be published in due course. The civil service recently committed to a new volunteering initiative that will encourage hundreds of thousands of professionals to volunteer for at least one day each year. The Government are working with external organisations to encourage this culture of giving outside the civil service and take forward the idea of a Big Society day.

Voluntary Organisations

Chris Ruane: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office if he will develop and publicise a national scheme to monitor corporate giving.

Nick Hurd: The Cabinet Office has no plans to publicise a national scheme to monitor corporate giving. The recently published 'Giving' Green Paper seeks to increase levels of giving and mutual support in all sectors of our society, catalysing a culture shift that makes social action a social norm. This consultation period for the Green Paper will close on 9 March and the Government will publish a White Paper on Giving after this.

Voluntary Organisations: Finance

Stella Creasy: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what factors he took into account in setting the deadline for applications to the Transition Fund by voluntary organisations; and whether he discussed such factors with representatives of  (a) the voluntary sector and  (b) local government.

Nick Hurd: The Transition Fund was open to applications on 30 November 2010 with a deadline of 21 January 2011. When setting this timetable, the Government were particularly mindful to balance the urgent need to support organisations facing financial hardship with requiring some evidence of the cuts they face. Big Fund, the delivery partner, held a consultation event on 11 November 2010 to seek views about the implementation of the Transition Fund. A wide range of organisations attended the consultation event including frontline civil society organisations, infrastructure organisations, national umbrella bodies representing civil society, representatives from the Local Government Association and central Government.

Voluntary Work

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what recent assessment he has made of barriers to volunteering.

Nick Hurd: In 2008-09 the Governments Citizenship Survey showed that the main barriers to volunteering were, work commitments (cited by 55% of those that did not volunteer), family responsibilities (30%), lack of spare time (26%) and not hearing about opportunities to help (20%).
	Encouraging social action, including volunteering is one of the three aims of the Governments vision for a big society. To support this aim, in December 2010 the Government published the Giving Green paper. The Green Paper sought to start a debate on how we can make social action a norm and encourage more people to give their time, including removing barriers to volunteering.
	The Government are also committed to reducing bureaucracy for charities, social enterprises and community organisations. To achieve this the Cabinet Office and Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) have set up a joint taskforce to investigate how to reduce the bureaucratic burdens on civil society organisations, particularly small organisations. The taskforce is chaired by Lord Hodgson and will report to Ministers in spring 2011.

Voluntary Work

Chris Ruane: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what research his Department has  (a) commissioned and  (b) evaluated on the effect of volunteering on the (i) well-being and (ii) employability of (A) newly unemployed and (B) long-term unemployed people.

Nick Hurd: The Cabinet Office has not directly commissioned and evaluated research related to the effect of volunteering on unemployed people. However, we have confidence that volunteering offers volunteers a range of benefits that would have a positive impact on unemployed people.
	This is supported by the Department for Work and Pension's report 'Evaluation of the six month offer: A report of quantitative findings', published in October 2010. This found that of those job seekers allowance customers who took up a volunteering placement under the six month offer initiative:
	67% felt they were more motivated to find work;
	74% felt better about themselves as a result;
	79% were more enthusiastic about taking on further voluntary opportunities in future; and
	60% said they felt they had a better chance of finding a job as a result.

Voluntary Work

Chris Ruane: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what role behavioural science has played in his Department's development of its policy on  (a) giving,  (b) volunteering and  (c) the Big Society.

Nick Hurd: The Behavioural Science Team was consulted in relation to the proposals in the recent Green Paper on giving of time and money. One of the discussion essays published alongside the Green Paper was authored by the Head of the Behavioural Insight team, David Halpern. Access to the Behavioural Insight Team is available to staff in the Office of Civil Society.

Voluntary Work

Chris Ruane: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office whether he has made an assessment of geographical variation in  (a) levels of volunteering and  (b) the number of charities; and if he will make a statement.

Nick Hurd: Data from the 2009-10 Citizenship Survey, conducted by the Department for Communities and Local Government, shows a regional variation in volunteering as follows:
	
		
			  Percentage 
			 Region  Formal volunteering  Informal volunteering 
			   Once a month  Once a year  Once a month  Once a year 
			 North East 23 36 28 51 
			 North West 20 34 26 47 
			 Yorkshire and Humber 25 38 28 52 
			 East Midlands 26 40 26 51 
			 West Midlands 27 41 31 53 
			 East of England 27 44 37 63 
			 London 20 35 26 49 
			 South East 28 45 30 61 
			 South West 31 49 32 60 
		
	
	Data from The UK Civil Society Almanac 2010 published by the National Council for Voluntary Organisations shows regional variations in the number of general charities as follows:
	
		
			  Region  Number of organisations - 2007-08 
			 North East 4,818 
			 North West 14,029 
			 Yorkshire and Humber 11,023 
			 East Midlands 11,617 
			 West Midlands 12,467 
			 East of England 17,515 
			 London 23,081 
			 South East 25,616 
			 South West 18,555 
			 Total 138,721 
		
	
	Encouraging social action, including volunteering is one of the three aims of the Government's vision for a Big Society. To support this aim, in December 2010 the Government published the Giving Green paper. The Green Paper sought to start a debate on how we can make social action a norm and encourage more people to give their time, including removing barriers to volunteering.
	In addition, the Cutting Red Tape taskforce, led by Lord Hodgson of Astley Abbots, is considering the red tape that affects civil society organisations and will recommend how to reduce its impact. This will contribute to the Government's aim of making it easier to run a charity, social enterprise or voluntary organisation.

Voluntary Work

Chris Ruane: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what use his Department has made of time-use studies in establishing volunteering patterns across  (a) socio-economic,  (b) age,  (c) gender and  (d) race groups.

Nick Hurd: The Department has not made use of time use studies to establish volunteering patterns across socio economic, age, gender and race groups. This information is collected through the Citizenship Survey, as conducted by the Department for Communities and Local Government. The information is in the public domain and available in the 2008-09 Citizenship Survey Volunteering and Charitable Giving Topic Report:
	www.communities.gov.uk/documents/statistics/pdf/1547056.pdf

Voluntary Work

Chris Ruane: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office pursuant to the answer of 27 January 2011,  Official Report, columns 453-4W, on voluntary work, what the evidential basis is for his Department's expectation that levels of volunteering will increase over the next three years; and if he will make a statement.

Nick Hurd: The Giving Green Paper, published in December 2010, contained a preliminary analysis of existing research. It showed that people are held back from volunteering due to a range of barriers, these include: too much bureaucracy, the lack of time or not having the right information. The Green Paper also outlined the Government's initial ideas for catalysing a culture shift towards a more giving society, including: the creation of an £80 million Volunteering Fund, which comprises a volunteering match fund and a volunteer infrastructure programme. These programmes will both provide support to organisations to take on more volunteers, and encourage individuals to take up these new opportunities.
	A public consultation on the Green Paper will run until 9 March 2011 and will feed into a White Paper to be published in spring 2011. This White Paper will set out a number of policy proposals aimed at increasing all forms of giving, however we cannot anticipate details in advance of its publication.

Working Hours

David Laws: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what was the average number of hours worked by  (a) adults aged 18 to 65 and  (b) employed adults aged 18 to 65 in each year since 1981.

Nick Hurd: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	 Letter from Stephen Penneck:
	As Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question asking what the average number of hours worked by a) adults aged 18 to 65 and b) employed adults aged 18 to 65 is in each year since 1981. 044521.
	The table provided shows average actual weekly hours derived from the Labour Force Survey. Estimates are for quarter four of each year from 1992 to 2010. Estimates prior to 1992 are not available.
	
		
			  Average actual weekly hours of work, people aged 18 to 65 Quarter 4 each year, 1992 to 2010-United Kingdom 
			  Hours per week 
			   Population( 1)  In employment( 2) 
			 1992 23.5 34.2 
			 1993 23.5 34.1 
			 1994 23.5 35.1 
			 1995 24.5 35.1 
			 1996 24.9 35.4 
			 1997 24.3 34.1 
			 1998 24.4 34.0 
			 1999 24.8 34.3 
			 2000 25.1 34.6 
			 2001 25.1 34.5 
			 2002 25.1 34.4 
			 2003 24.9 34.1 
			 2004 24.5 33.5 
			 2005 24.6 33.7 
			 2006 24.7 33.7 
			 2007 24.8 33.8 
			 2008 23.7 32.6 
			 2009 23.1 32.4 
			 2010 22.6 31.7 
			 (1) Average actual weekly hours worked by people in main and second job including paid and unpaid overtime for the population as a whole.  (2) Average actual weekly hours worked by people in main and second job including paid and unpaid overtime for people in employment.   Source:  Labour Force Survey.

TREASURY

Carbon Emissions

William Bain: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the contribution of fiscal measures to reduce levels of waste to landfill to the Government's carbon emission reduction targets.

Justine Greening: The landfill tax and the landfill allowance trading schemes aim to reduce the volume of waste sent to landfill. The annual volume of waste sent to landfill has reduced from 95.8 million tonnes to 43.9 million tonnes since landfill tax was introduced in 1996.
	As a result, direct emissions from waste in 2011 are projected to be 2.6 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent lower than if the level of waste sent to landfill had not changed.

Fiscal Policy: Food

William Bain: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made on the effects on fiscal policy of rising global food and commodity prices.

Justine Greening: The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) produced its latest forecast for the public finances in its November Economic and Fiscal Outlook 2010, available here:
	http://budgetresponsibility.independent.gov.uk/econ-fiscal-outlook.html
	The OBR will publish an updated assessment of the public finances at the Budget on 23 March 2011, which will include any effects from changing food and commodity prices.

Green Investment Bank

William Bain: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what meetings he has had with  (a) the Deputy Prime Minister and  (b) other Ministerial colleagues on capitalisation and accounting practices for the proposed Green Investment Bank.

Justine Greening: holding answer 2 March 2011
	Treasury Ministers have frequent meetings with their ministerial colleagues as part of the process of policy development and delivery. It is not the Government's practice to provide details of all such meetings.

Aggregates Levy Sustainability Fund

George Freeman: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  what plans he has for the future use of revenues raised through the aggregates levy following the closure of the Aggregates Levy Sustainability Fund;
	(2)  what plans he has for the future funding of environmental projects following the closure of the Aggregates Levy Sustainability Fund.

Justine Greening: Responsibility for the Aggregates Levy Sustainability Fund (ALSF) lies with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. Following the spending review settlement in October 2010 DEFRA has decided to discontinue the ALSF programme of work from 1 April 2011, after careful consideration across its priorities.
	Value for money and significant environment projects will continue to be funded where it is affordable for the Department to do so, in the context of tighter budget allocations. However, DEFRA is funding a project to help ensure that the findings from money already invested in ALSF research and development are accessible to those who can put them into practice and achieve the potential improvements in environmental performance.
	Revenue from the aggregates levy will go into the Consolidated Fund and help support general public spending. £0.3 billion is forecast to be raised in 2010-11.
	In the spending review the Government committed to increase central Government environmental spending by 21% between 2010-11 and 2014-1 5, including:
	Up to 1 billion of investment to create one of the world's first commercial scale carbon capture and storage demonstration plants;
	£2 billion investment in flood defences better protecting 145,000 households by 2014-15;
	Over £200 million for the development of low carbon technologies including offshore wind technology and manufacturing at port sites; and
	£2.9 billion of international climate finance to help developing countries pursue low carbon growth and adapt to the impacts of climate change.
	In addition the Government have committed to setting up a UK-wide Green Investment Bank, initially capitalised with £1 billion of Government funding together with additional significant proceeds from the sale of Government owned assets. The new institution will make a radical new contribution to financing green infrastructure through having an explicit mandate to tackle risk that the market cannot currently adequately finance.

Arch Cru

David Davies: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what steps the Financial Services Authority is taking to investigate the collapse of the Arch Cru fund.

Mark Hoban: The Financial Services Authority (FSA) is investigating the issues surrounding the suspension and winding-up of the Arch Cru funds, but is prevented under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 from disclosing details of its supervision of individual firms, for reasons of confidentiality. Where the FSA takes enforcement action against an authorised firm, it makes the details of this action public.

Bank Services

William Bain: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will bring forward proposals to prevent banks from offsetting losses incurred since autumn 2008 against their tax liabilities.

Mark Hoban: The Government keep all taxes under review.

Banks: Pay

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer of 11 February 2011,  Official Report, column 494W, on banks: pay, for what reasons the release of the document would prejudice the effective conduct of public affairs; and if he will make a statement.

Mark Hoban: Policy advice, recommendations, suggested options, and opinions are generally withheld from publication, so that:
	decision-making is based on the best advice available and a full consideration of all the options;
	advice can be broadly based-there may be a deterrent effect on experts or stakeholders who might be reluctant to provide advice because it might be disclosed;
	the impartiality of the civil service is protected-it might be undermined if advice was routinely made public as there is a risk that officials could come under political or public pressure not to challenge ideas in the formulation of policy, thus leading to poorer decision-making;
	Ministers and officials can conduct rigorous and candid risk assessments of their policies and programmes including considerations of the pros and cons without there being premature disclosure which might close off discussion and the development of better options;
	there is a free space in which it is possible to "think the unthinkable" and use imagination, without the fear that policy proposals will be held up to ridicule or public criticism; and
	the collective responsibility of the Government is not undermined by disclosure of interdepartmental consideration and views of other Ministers (which may reveal disagreement).
	The document referred to has been withheld for these reasons.

Banks: Regulation

Chuka Umunna: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  what sanctions will apply if Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds Banking Group or RBS do not meet their commitments on pay disclosure as part of the Project Merlin agreement;
	(2)  what sanctions will apply if the remuneration committees of Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds Banking Group or RBS do not confirm to the Financial Services Authority that their pay deals conform with the commitments given in relation to pay as part of the Project Merlin agreement.

Mark Hoban: holding answer 1 March 2011
	As a result of the Government's discussions, the four largest UK banks have committed that the total remuneration paid in 2010 will be lower than it was in 2009 and lower than it would have been otherwise. The Remuneration Committee Chair of each bank will write to the Financial Services Authority (FSA) to confirm that this commitment has been met. These banks have also committed to world-leading pay disclosure arrangements which when taken together with the FSA's sector-wide regime make the UK's disclosure arrangements the toughest of any major financial centre. The Government expect that these commitments will be met. Going forward, the Government will consult on extending the disclosure requirements to other large banks in the UK.

Banks: Regulation

Chuka Umunna: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer with reference to paragraph 1.3.4 Project Merlin-Banks' Statement, 
	(1)  what steps he plans to take to determine whether sufficient demand for lending among UK businesses has materialised;
	(2)  who will determine whether sufficient demand for lending to businesses has materialised;
	(3)  what process will be used to determine whether sufficient demand for lending to businesses materialises.

Mark Hoban: The Bank of England will report, on a quarterly basis, the banks' total new lending to all businesses (and within that, to SMEs) under the definitions used for Project Merlin.
	In addition, the Business Finance Taskforce, led by the British Bankers' Association, has agreed to 17 new commitments in order to improve the banks' relationship with their business customers. The banks will provide a new Lending Code and a transparent appeals procedure for declined loan applications, among other actions. These commitments will be evaluated by a regular survey of small businesses and their experience of access to finance, which will be published by the British Bankers' Association.

Child Benefit: Fraud

Guto Bebb: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what recent steps his Department has taken to prevent child benefit fraud.

Justine Greening: HM Revenue and Customs' (HMRC) approach to tackling child benefit error and fraud is two-fold; to prevent fraud from entering the child benefit system and, where it already exists, to remove it.
	HMRC requires each customer to provide documentary evidence of each child being claimed for, such as an original birth or adoption certificate. Those documents are subject to strict verification before a claim is paid.
	HMRC deploys a specialist compliance team to tackle error and fraud already in the system. The team undertake a range of interventions targeting non-compliant customers, challenging information they provide and stopping claims where appropriate.

Corporation Tax

William Bain: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the  (a) corporation tax and  (b) proportion of gross profits paid in corporation tax by the banking sector in (i) 2007-08, (ii) 2008-09 and (iii) 2009-10.

Mark Hoban: HM Revenue and Customs(HMRC) do not currently publish statistics on corporation tax (CT) paid by the banking sector, or gross profits. HMRC does publish historical financial services sector CT receipts which will include the banking sector. This information is regularly updated and published in table 11.1, on the HMRC National Statistics website. The latest update is available here:
	http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/stats/corporate_tax/table11_1.pdf

Departmental Manpower

John Redwood: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  how many  (a) actual and  (b) full-time equivalent staff have left his Department's employment since May 2010;
	(2)  how many  (a) actual and  (b) full-time equivalent staff his Department employed on the latest date for which figures are available;
	(3)  how many  (a) actual and  (b) full-time equivalent staff were employed by his Department in May 2010.

Justine Greening: The following table gives the number of civil servants employed by HM Treasury on 31 May 2010 and 31 December 2010 (the latest complete month for which figures are currently available) and the number of staff who have left or joined the Department between those two dates.
	
		
			  HM Treasury employees 
			  Date  Headcount  Full-time equivalent 
			 31 May 2010 1,401 1,362.8 
			 31 December 2010 1,372 1,333.0 
			 Leavers 244 240.2

Economic Growth: EU Action

Priti Patel: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the cost to the UK of implementing the EU's 2020 Strategy for economic growth; how many  (a) directives and  (b) regulations he expects to emanate from the 2020 Strategy; and whether he expects there to be any transfer of powers from the UK to the EU as a result of any instrument arising from the 2020 Strategy.

Mark Hoban: The Europe 2020 Strategy sets out an overarching policy framework for promoting growth across the EU including seven "flagship initiatives" in key areas such as innovation and employment and a series of policy initiatives in areas such as trade policy and the Single Market.
	The Government supports the broad aims of the Europe 2020 Strategy, and considers that it is essential for the EU-level reform agenda to focus narrowly on a few key issues which will have the greatest impact on growth, such as the Single Market and trade policy, reducing regulatory burdens for business and driving innovation in the EU.
	While the Commission has published consultation documents or proposals in a number of areas, it has not yet come forward with draft legislation in many areas. As a result, at this time, it is not possible to provide a meaningful or accurate estimate of the cost of implementing the Europe 2020 Strategy, or the number of directives or regulations emanating from it.
	The Government have been clear that the strategy must respect member states' competence as defined by the Treaties, and that any future changes that move a power or an area of policy from the UK to the EU, will be subject to a referendum. The June European Council conclusions state that any policy recommendations addressed to member states:
	"shall be fully in line with relevant Treaty provisions and EU rules and respect member states' competences in areas such as education".

Electoral Reform Services

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the monetary value was of contracts his Department placed with Electoral Reform Services in each year since 2005.

Justine Greening: The Treasury has not placed any contracts with Electoral Reform Services since 2005.

European Committee

William Cash: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer of 1 February 2011,  Official Report, European Committee B, column 9, for what reasons the Financial Secretary to the Treasury stated that the only legal action had been struck down.

Mark Hoban: holding answer 11 February 2011
	The statement was inaccurate; the admissibility of the case brought against the Council by Mr Thomas Ax is currently under consideration. I have since written, as I committed to do in the course of the debate, to the right hon. Member for Stone with a correct account of the matter. This has no material effect on the broader issue, which is that the Government believe that EU Council Regulation No. 407/2010, establishing the European Financial Stabilisation Mechanism, is consistent with the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. The Government are not aware of a significant body of legal opinion supporting the opposite view.

Financial Institutions

William Bain: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what his policy is on the extension of net lending targets to the covered by the Project Merlin agreement.

Mark Hoban: On 9 February 2011 the Government announced that the five Merlin banks agreed to make available the appropriate capital and resources to support gross new lending to UK small and medium-sized businesses, of £190 billion, should sufficient demand materialise.
	Increasing the amounts that the banks are willing to make available to businesses over the next year in new lending will help to give businesses the confidence that they need to seek finance from their bank and ensure that the banks are focused on providing that flow of credit to businesses.
	This goes much further than the previous Government and delivers a commitment from all five major retail banks to lend to UK businesses. These five banks represent around 90% of the UK SME banking market.

Financial Services Authority: Equality

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will revise the objectives of the Chief Executive of the Financial Services Authority to include the promotion of corporate diversity.

Mark Hoban: The objectives of the chief executive are set by the chairman and the board of the Financial Services Authority (FSA). The FSA's day-to-day operations are independent from government control and influence.

Financial Services Authority: Incentives

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many staff at the Financial Services Authority were entitled to receive a bonus in 2010-11; and if he will make a statement.

Mark Hoban: The matter concerned is the responsibility of the Financial Services Authority (FSA), whose day-to-day operations are independent from government control and influence.
	There is no automatic or guaranteed bonus for staff at the FSA. However, the FSA has an annual individual incentive plan which extends to all full-time staff and is based on individual performance throughout the year. Individual incentive payments are designed to recognise and reward the FSA's highest performers. The FSA is not able to confirm any further details as the 2011 pay review process, which rewards performance for 2010, has not yet been completed.

Mileage Payment Allowance

Sarah Wollaston: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what plans he has for the future level of the mileage payment allowance.

Justine Greening: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given in response to the hon. Member for Ochil and South Perthshire (Gordon Banks) on 13 September 2010,  Official Report, column 785W.

Northern Rock: Financial Health of Friendly Societies

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what recent meetings he has had on the  (a) possible remutualisation of Northern Rock and  (b) financial health of friendly societies; and if he will make a statement.

Mark Hoban: Treasury Ministers and officials have meetings with a wide variety of organisations in the public and private sectors as part of the process of policy development and delivery. As was the case with previous Administrations, it is not the Government's practice to provide details of all such meetings.
	UK Financial Investments Limited (UKFI) manages the Government's investments in financial institutions on an arm's length and commercial basis. The development and execution of strategies for disposing of the Government's shareholding in Northern Rock is part of UKFI's remit.
	UKFI will look at the full range of alternatives for divestment, and will explore options based on maximising value for the taxpayer, maintaining financial stability and paying due regard to promoting competition. All exit strategies for Northern Rock plc will be considered. The final decision on the sale of Northern Rock will be made by the Chancellor.
	UKFI and Northern Rock plc are in the process of jointly appointing advisers to examine all possible exit strategies. Advisers will be appointed in the field of corporate finance, tax and accountancy.
	On the financial health of friendly societies, despite the challenges faced by much of the wider financial sector, most mutuals have emerged from the financial crisis relatively unscathed. The Government support the mutual proposition of which friendly societies are one part, however, they also recognise some specific challenges this model will face over the coming years.

Personal Savings: Government Assistance

William Bain: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  whether his Department has plans to introduce Government-backed individual saving accounts enabling investment in environmental industries;
	(2)  whether his Department made a recent assessment of the  (a) availability and  (b) gross monetary value of individual saving accounts enabling investment in environmental industries;
	(3)  what his policy is on issuing Government-backed bonds for investment in low-carbon industries;
	(4)  whether he has met representatives of the Sustainable Investment and Finance Association to discuss the creation of Government-backed individual saving accounts enabling investment in environmental industries;
	(5)  whether he has met representatives of the UK investment industry to discuss the creation of Government-backed individual saving accounts enabling investment in environmental industries.

Mark Hoban: The Government are undertaking analysis into how investment in green industries can be increased.
	The ISA market is competitive and a number of providers have chosen to offer green, environmental or ethical ISAs. When ISA providers provide information to HMRC on account holders it does not include information on whether an investment is environmental or not and so no estimate of the value of accounts investing in environmental industries is available.
	The Government are currently considering how best to encourage additional investment in green infrastructure through the Green Investment Bank, and are aiming to announce their detailed proposals in May. When considering issuing new bond instruments the Government consider:
	consistency with the debt management objective (minimising long-term cost, subject to risk) and the principles on which debt management is based;
	impact on liquidity and the good functioning more generally of the gilt market;
	the likely size of demand for the new instrument; and
	an assessment of the cost and resource commitment required for implementation in comparison with the potential size of demand.
	Treasury Ministers have meetings with a wide variety of organisations in the public and private sectors as part of the process of policy development and delivery. It is not the Government's practice to provide details of all such meetings.

Refrigerators: Recycling

Andrew George: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will introduce financial incentives to increase the use of remanufactured refrigerated display cabinets.

Justine Greening: All taxes are kept under review and announcements on tax policy are made at Budget.

Tax Credit: Fraud

Frank Field: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what his estimate is of the monetary value of tax credits claimed fraudulently in each month since May 2010.

David Gauke: HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) measure error and fraud retrospectively. Information is published annually and cannot be broken down by month. Information for 2010-11 is not yet available.
	HMRC has a target to reduce the combined levels of error and fraud to no more than 5%, from 8.9% in 2008-09, the latest published estimates, by the end of March 2011.
	The Trust Statement that accompanied HMRC's 2009-10 accounts explains in more detail how the Department measures the overall level of tax credits error and fraud, published at:
	www.hmrc.gov.uk/about/hmrc-accs-0910.pdf
	HMRC published a joint strategy with the Department for Work and Pensions to help drive down error and fraud across the benefits and tax credits system. The publication can be found at:
	www.dwp.gov.uk/docs/tackling-fraud-and-error.pdf

Tax Relief: Dairy Farmers

William Bain: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will provide tax relief to assist dairy farmers in preparing for implementations of the Nitrate Vulnerable Zone regulations in each of the next four financial years.

Justine Greening: The extension of Nitrate Vulnerable Zones, which protect vulnerable ecosystems and the quality of drinking water in the UK, was undertaken through a phased process. The extension was announced in October 2008, and the new regulations introduced on 1 January 2009 for implementation from 1 January 2010.
	The Government have appointed a Taskforce on Farming Regulations which will report early this year on ways to reduce regulatory burdens on farmers.

Taxation: Aviation

Angus Robertson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  if he will take steps to ensure that air passenger duty exemptions for passengers departing from the Highlands and Islands are maintained in implementing his proposals to introduce a per plane tax;
	(2)  what consultation his Department plans to undertake in the Highlands and Islands on his proposals to replace air passenger duty with a per plane tax;
	(3)  whether he plans to review the military exemptions from air passenger duty;
	(4)  whether his proposals for a per plane tax will apply to cargo flights operating within the Highlands and Islands region.

Justine Greening: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to the hon. Member for Central Suffolk and North Ipswich (Dr Poulter) on 22 November 2010,  Official Report, column 83W.

Taxation: Gambling

Roger Williams: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what rate of gross profit tax is paid by  (a) adult gaming centres,  (b) onshore gaming websites and  (c) offshore gaming websites.

Justine Greening: Adult gaming centres pay Amusement Machine License Duty and VAT on their gaming machines. The licence fee payable varies depending on stake and prize limits.
	Online gaming websites, licensed in the UK, pay a remote gaming duty of 15% on gross profits.

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

British Overseas NGOs for Development

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much funding his Department has provided for the Bond organisation in each of the last five years; and what reports he has received from that organisation on the effect of its activities on levels of poverty.

Stephen O'Brien: Department for International Development (DFID) funding to Bond from 2006-07 to 2010-11 is as follows.
	
		
			   £ 
			 2006-07 450,000 
			 2007-08 454,000 
			 2008-09 479,261 
			 2009-10 558,599 
			 2010-11 627,180 
		
	
	It is a requirement for all non-government organisations who receive DFID funding to provide annual reports and annual audited accounts. DFID has received and reviewed annual reports for Bond in the last five years. DFID has also received an independent evaluation of Bond's work for the period 2008-10 which is available on the Department's website:
	www.dfid.gov.uk
	Bond's impact on poverty is indirect. Bond's focus is primarily to strengthen the quality and effectiveness of its membership, consisting of 370 UK-based international development organisations.

Broadcasting

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development with reference to his Department's report on Building support for Development Strategy-Impact of strategy, expenditure and activities, August 2009, page 6, which broadcast programmes receive seed funding from his Department.

Andrew Mitchell: The Department for International Development provides seed funding to broadcast programmes through our support to the Commonwealth Broadcasting Association (CBA). DFID's current agreement with CBA is for three years and was entered into in December 2009. A list of broadcast programmes which received seed funding from DFID over the period 2002 to 2010 will be deposited in the Library of the House.
	All DFID's funding for development awareness raising work is currently being reviewed to determine its effectiveness and to assess whether, and if so how, DFID should continue to use aid funds in the UK to promote awareness of global poverty and public involvement in efforts to address this. More information on this review is available on the Department's website at:
	http://www.dfid.gov.uk/Get-Involved/Making-a-difference/Dev-aware-Review/
	I expect the review to be completed by the end of March 2011. Ministers will then look closely at its outcomes and assess the relevance of these activities to the UK's development objectives, in order to determine the future of DFID's development awareness work in the UK.

Civil Society Challenge Fund

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development pursuant to the answer of 7 December 2010,  Official Report, column 210W, on the Civil Society Challenge Fund, which trade unions received funding from the Civil Society Challenge Fund in 2009-10; and how much each such trade union received.

Stephen O'Brien: I refer my hon. Friend to my answer of 17 January 2011,  Official Report, column 527W. The requested information is available in the Library of the House.

Departmental Expenditure

Stephen Barclay: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what expenditure  (a) his Department and  (b) each public body sponsored by his Department incurred on engaging external audit services in each of the last three years; and to which service providers such payments were made in each year.

Stephen O'Brien: Expenditure by the Department for International Development (DFID) on engaging external audit services for the last three financial years were as follows, with totals aggregated per provider:
	
		
			  £000 
			  Service provider  2008-09  2009-10  2010-11 
			  Statutory audit
			 National Audit Office-resource accounts 281 281 256 
			 
			  Project audits-aggregated per provider
			 RSM Bentley Jennison - 72.5 253.5 
			 Baker Tilly - - 50.5 
			 European Commission - - 33 
			 Pannell Kerr Forster 20 6 25 
			 KPMG - 9.5 16.5 
			 PricewaterhouseCoopers 35 17 16 
			 Akinbola Williams Deloitte Consulting - - 13 
			 MC Global Audit - 8.5 8 
			 COI - - 8 
			 ACNABIN - - 7 
			 NAO - - 7 
			 Howlader Yunus and Co. - - 6.5 
			 International Organisation Development - - 6.5 
			 S.F. Ahmed and Co. - - 6.5 
			 A. Quasem - - 5 
			 A. wahab - - 4 
			 Institute of Internal Auditors 1 2 0.5 
			 FGS McClure Watters - 42.5 - 
			 Ernst and Young - 36 - 
			 Deloitte - 24 - 
			 OECD - 23 - 
			 CABI 3 13 - 
			 Graham Carr - 3 - 
			 Vincent Ahwi and Co. 8.5 - - 
			 Wachira Irungu and Associates 3 - - 
			 Total 350.5 577 717 
		
	
	DFID's non-departmental public body, the Commonwealth Scholarship Commission (CSC), has incurred no expenditure on auditing services in the last three years. CSC delegates financial transactions to two partner organisations, the Association of Commonwealth Universities and British Council; both bodies are subject to external audit.

Departmental Furniture

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what  (a) furniture,  (b) paintings and  (c) other items costing over £100 were purchased for the private offices of Ministers in his Department between May 1997 and May 2010.

Stephen O'Brien: The Department for International Development (DFID) has not incurred expenditure on paintings as where these are required they are obtained on free loan from the Government Art Collection. Expenditure on furniture and other items over £100 obtained for Ministers' private offices in the period 1 May 1997 to 1 May 2010 is not readily available and cannot be obtained without incurring disproportionate cost.

Departmental Procurement

Dominic Raab: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what the cost to the public purse was of the  (a) procurement and  (b) outsourcing function of (i) his Department and (ii) each non-departmental public body for which he is responsible in the last financial year for which figures are available.

Stephen O'Brien: The 2009-10 budget for the Department for International Development's (DFID's) central procurement function was £1.6 million. DFID does not currently have any separate outsourcing functions.
	DFID's non-departmental public body, the Commonwealth Scholarship Commission, does not have procurement or outsourcing functions and has not incurred any such expenditure in the last financial year.

Environment Protection

William Bain: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent discussions he has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on the Government's policy on the recommendations of the UN Environment Programme report, Towards a Green Economy.

Stephen O'Brien: The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) released their report "Towards a Green Economy-Pathways to Sustainable Development and Poverty Eradication" on 21 February 2011.
	I will raise the report on 8 March at the 'Green Breakfast' meeting hosted by the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and initiate a preliminary discussion on the recommendations.

Music

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much his Department has spent on the Music for Change World Music Matters project; what music has been produced; and if he will place in the Library a recording of the music produced to date.

Andrew Mitchell: The Department for International Development (DFID) spent £184,550 on the World Music Matters project, implemented by the non-government organisation Music for Change, through the Development Awareness Fund. The project-set up under the previous Government-started in July 2006 and closed in March 2010. The project produced a range of training materials for teachers, including a DVD with music as part of a teaching resource pack. This pack will be placed in the Library of the House.
	All DFID's existing funding for development awareness raising work is currently being reviewed to determine its effectiveness and to assess whether, and if so how, DFID should continue to use aid funds in the UK to promote awareness of global poverty and public involvement in efforts to address this. More information on this review is available on the Department's website at:
	http://www.dfid.gov.uk/Get-Involved/Making-a-difference/Dev-aware-Review/
	I expect the review to be completed by the end of March 2011. Ministers will then look closely at its outcomes and assess the relevance of these activities to the UK's development objectives, in order to determine the future of DFID's development awareness work in the UK.

National Union of Teachers

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what funds his Department has given to the National Union of Teachers in each year since his Department's formation.

Stephen O'Brien: I refer my hon. Friend to my answer of 7 December 2010,  Official Report, column 215W. The requested information is available in the Library of the House.
	All DFID's funding for development awareness raising work is currently being reviewed to determine its effectiveness and to assess whether, and if so how, DFID should continue to use aid funds in the UK to promote awareness of global poverty and public involvement in efforts to address this. More information on this review is available on the Department's website at:
	http://www.dfid.gov.uk/Get-Involved/Making-a-difference/Dev-aware-Review/
	I expect the review to be completed by the end of March 2011. Ministers will then look closely at its outcomes and assess the relevance of these activities to the UK's development objectives, in order to determine the future of DFID's development awareness work in the UK.

Sub-Saharan Africa: Agriculture

William Bain: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if he will assess the potential use of biochar in assisting carbon and nitrogen fixation in smallholder farms in developing countries in sub-Saharan Africa.

Stephen O'Brien: The Department for International Development (DFID) is considering funding research on the use of biochar to assist carbon capture and soil improvement in smallholder farms in sub-Saharan Africa and elsewhere. The existing-mainly technical-research suggests that biochar can deliver benefits in terms of improved soil performance, carbon capture, crop nutrients and plant disease control. However, there is currently little understanding of how this will work for smallholders in Africa. DFID is considering strengthening this evidence base, in collaboration with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA).

Sudan: International Assistance

Lindsay Roy: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if he will take steps with his EU and UN counterparts to make improvements to the lives of the people of northern Sudan.

Andrew Mitchell: I last discussed support to Northern Sudan with my EU colleagues at a meeting of Development Ministers and EU Commissioner Piebalgs on 22 February 2011. I have also in recent months discussed UN delivery across Sudan with the Heads of UN Agencies including Helen Clark, Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and Baroness Amos, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs. The UK will continue to work with EU and UN counterparts to promote economic development and improve lives in both North and South Sudan.
	Sudan is currently not eligible to money from the 10th round of the European development fund. However, the UK has led on the creation of a special fund for Sudan using undisbursed money from previous rounds. Some of this special fund will go to Northern Sudan for use in its marginalised areas: the three states of the East, the North-South Border Areas, and in Darfur. The Department for International Development's (DFID's) office in Sudan is currently working closely with the EU delegation on this.
	The UN is pivotal to the delivery of the UK's humanitarian assistance to Northern Sudan, for example through the Common Humanitarian Fund (CHF). Thus far in 2011, the UK has provided £30 million to the CHF, of which 46% will be spent in Northern Sudan.
	Beyond our work through these specific multilateral channels, I have recently announced the results of the UK's Bilateral Aid Review. Over the next four years, the UK Government will work with North and South Sudan to promote growth, employment and accountable and transparent government; we will help 1 million people escape from poverty; get 240,000 children through primary school; give over 500,000 people access to clean water and sanitation; and provide life-saving health and nutrition support to up to 10 million people.

Trades Union Congress

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if he will place in the Library a copy of the Mini Learning Fund report of June 2006 appended to the report on the strategic grant agreement between his Department and the Trades Union Congress.

Andrew Mitchell: I will arrange for a copy of the report to be deposited in the Library of the House. All existing Department for International Development (DFID) funding to the Trades Union Congress will end on 31 March 2011.

Woodcraft Folk Scotland

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of its funding for Woodcraft Folk Scotland; and if he will make a statement.

Andrew Mitchell: In March 2009 Woodcraft Folk Scotland was awarded £24,812 for a three year project which aims to raise awareness among young people in Scotland of the global effects of climate change. The funding is provided through the Development Awareness Fund Mini Grants Scheme which is managed by the International Development Education Association of Scotland (IDEAS).
	All DFID's funding for development awareness raising work is currently being reviewed to determine its effectiveness and to assess whether, and if so how, DFID should continue to use aid funds in the UK to promote awareness of global poverty and public involvement in efforts to address this. More information on this review is available on the Department's website at:
	http://www.dfid.gov.uk/Get-Involved/Making-a-difference/Dev-aware-Review/
	I expect the review to be completed by the end of March 2011. Ministers will then look closely at its outcomes and assess the relevance of these activities to the UK's development objectives, in order to determine the future of DFID's development awareness work in the UK.

WOMEN AND EQUALITIES

Departmental Food

William Bain: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities if she will estimate the proportion of the seafood procured for the Government Equalities Office that  (a) was on the Marine Conservation Society's list of fish to avoid and  (b) complied with sustainability standards indicated by inclusion in either the Marine Conservation Society's list of fish to eat or by the list of fish species certified by the Marine Stewardship Council in (i) 2010 and (ii) 2011 to date.

Lynne Featherstone: The Government Equalities Office does not procure any seafood.

Departmental Procurement

Dominic Raab: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities what the cost to the public purse was of the  (a) procurement and  (b) outsourcing function of the Government Equalities Office was in the last financial year for which figures are available.

Lynne Featherstone: The Government Equalities Office does not have a procurement section or an outsourcing function.

Females

Chris Ruane: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities what arrangements the Government Equalities Office has in place to monitor the status of women in society.

Lynne Featherstone: The Inter Ministerial Group on Equalities, chaired by the Home Secretary as Minister for Women and Equalities is responsible for overseeing the progress of the Government's Equality Strategy, published in December 2010. A report on the progress of the implementation of the Strategy will be published annually. The Government considers information from a range of sources including research, surveys and direct engagement with women in order to understand developments which relate to women's status in society and to inform policy development.
	The Equality and Human Rights Commission is required to monitor and report on the progress that society is making in relation to equality, including gender equality. The Commission published its first Triennial Review in October 2010.
	In addition, the Government will shortly publish a consultation document setting out our vision for a new approach for how Government engages and listens to women which will include more direct engagement and use of social media. This new approach will seek to capture views on the range of issues which affect women's lives.

Third Sector

Chris Ruane: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities what account she has taken of the Compact between the Government and Civil Society in policy development.

Lynne Featherstone: The Compact between this coalition government and civil society organisations was agreed and launched on 16 December 2010. It was accompanied by guidance on accountability and transparency for the first time, ensuring that Government Departments as well as civil society organisations are clear about the level of commitment and the implications for not following the Compact. The Government Equalities Office considers policy that is relevant to civil society organisations from a Compact perspective, ensuring that it is adhered to, and where it is not possible for whatever reason, that this is explained to the sector in an open and transparent manner.

DEFENCE

Afghanistan: Peacekeeping Operations

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment he has made of the outcome of the NATO Surge in Afghanistan.

Liam Fox: It is too early to say definitively what the outcome of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) surge has been but the signs are encouraging. The increase in both ISAF and Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) has enabled us to continue to take the fight to the insurgency through the winter months. This has led to the momentum of the insurgency being arrested and reversed in many areas. In addition, we expect the formal process of transition to Afghan-led security to begin shortly.
	These gains are not irreversible and we should expect levels of insurgent activity to rise again in the spring but as the insurgency is degraded and the ANSF are built up there is some cause for cautious optimism.

Air Force: Military Bases

Menzies Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment he has made of the effect of meteorological differences between RAF bases located in the UK on their operational sustainability.

Nick Harvey: Weather conditions are one of many factors in military aviation and an assessment of the percentage of flying days lost to bad weather at RAF stations across the UK was carried out in 2009 as one of the elements of a study into the UK Military Emergency Diversion Aerodrome capability.

Air Force: Military Bases

Menzies Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence for how many days each RAF base located in the UK was closed as a result of  (a) adverse weather conditions and  (b) other factors in each of the last five years.

Nick Harvey: No RAF stations have closed because of adverse weather conditions or other factors during the last five years. However, some of the RAF stations' runways have experienced temporary closures during this period. Details of the runway closures are not centrally available and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Air Force: Military Bases

Menzies Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what criteria were used to determine that RAF Leuchars should undertake Quick Reaction Alert North duties.

Nick Harvey: RAF Leuchars began undertaking Quick Reaction Alert North duties over 40 years ago. Official records relating to the decision to use the station are no longer held by the Ministry of Defence.

Air Force: Redundancy

Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment he has made of the effect of the redundancies in the Royal Air Force announced on 1 March 2011 on harmony guidelines in that force.

Nick Harvey: Tranche one of the RAF redundancy programme announced on 1 March 2011 is not expected to impact upon the RAF's operational capability or Harmony Guidelines. The reductions have been targeted at trades and branches that are not currently experiencing the highest breach of Harmony Guidelines.

Air Force: Redundancy

Ben Wallace: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  which courses RAF pilots in training and served with  (a) a redundancy and  (b) a transfer notice were undertaking; and what the (i) mean and (ii) median number of weeks they were from course completion;
	(2)  what criteria were used to determine which pilots in training were to be  (a) made redundant and  (b) transferred in the last six months;
	(3)  how many pilots in training at RAF Valley were served with redundancy notices in the latest period for which figures are available; and what courses they were on.

Nick Harvey: The RAF is currently in the process of selecting up to 170 RAF trainee pilots to be removed from the flying training pipeline. The criteria being used to assess the pilots will be a combination of the service need, officer qualities, ground based pilot aptitude testing and flying performance to date.
	Those students affected will currently be undertaking one of the following courses: initial officer training, elementary flying training or type-specific training for either fast-jet, rotary or multi-engine. Further details relating to those being removed from the training pipeline will not be available until the selection process is complete.

Air Force: Training

Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the cost to the public purse of training a Royal Air Force pilot was in the latest period for which figures are available.

Nick Harvey: A pilot is considered to be fully trained once they have successfully completed the flying training pipeline and an operational conversion unit where student pilots train to fly specific aircraft types.
	To put a pilot through the flying training pipeline costs (per pilot) £3.2 million for fast jet aircraft, £0.6 million for multi-engine aircraft and £0.8 million for helicopters. These figures include a pro rata share of the cost of instructors, fuel, aircraft and simulator support, station and airfield support, recruitment, selection, student pay and shared training costs.
	Information relating to the costs for individual operational conversion units is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Aircraft Carriers: Decommissioning

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what estimate he has made of the potential savings to his Department from the decommissioning of aircraft carriers in  (a) 2011-12,  (b) 2012-13,  (c) 2013-14 and  (d) 2014-15.

Andrew Robathan: Savings from the withdrawal from service of HMS Ark Royal in December 2010 are estimated at £10 million in financial year 2011-12, £25 million in 2012-13, £35 million in 2013-14 and £35 million in 2014-15. Savings from the withdrawal from service of HMS Illustrious in 2014, which is our present planning assumption, are estimated at £5 million in 2013-14 and £30 million in 2014-15.

Armed Forces: Conditions of Employment

Cathy Jamieson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what recent discussions he has had with the Chiefs of Staff Committee on the contribution of the Military Covenant to the effectiveness of the armed forces; and if he will make a statement.

Andrew Robathan: The Secretary of State for Defence and other Defence Ministers have regular meetings with the Chief of the Defence Staff and the Chiefs of Staff at which a variety of subjects are discussed. Among them are the effectiveness of and support offered to the armed forces, including issues covered by the Covenant.

Armed Forces: Criminal Records

Elfyn Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether criminal convictions of members of the armed forces are recorded on the Police National Computer.

Andrew Robathan: holding answer 16 February 2011
	Yes. Recordable offences on the Police National Computer are those offences under section 42 of the Armed Forces Act 2006 for which the corresponding offences under the law of England and Wales are also offences that are recordable under regulation 3 of the National Police Records (Recordable Offences) Regulations 2000.
	In addition, there are a number of service offences that are recordable. These are offences under the following sections of the Armed Forces Act 2006:
	a. Section 11(1)-Misconduct towards a superior officer;
	b. Section 14-Using force against a sentry, etc.;
	c. Section 24(1)-Damage to or loss of public or service property;
	d. Section 27-Obstructing or failing to assist a service policeman;
	e. Section 28-Resistance to arrest, etc. (only in relation to a conviction under section 28(1)(b) or (c)-using violence or threatening behaviour);
	f. Section 29-Offences in relation to service custody;
	g. Section 30-Allowing escape, or unlawful release of prisoners, etc. (but only where the conviction is under section 30(4)(a));
	h. Section 39-Attempts to commit any offences specified above; and
	i. Section 40-Encouraging or assisting the commission of any offence above (apart from an attempt).

Armed Forces: Criminal Records

Elfyn Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether the relevant foreign police force is informed in cases where a member of the armed forces who has been convicted of a criminal offence is subsequently posted overseas.

Andrew Robathan: holding answer 17 February 2011
	No. There is no legislative requirement to do so.

Armed Forces: Manpower

Bridget Phillipson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many armed forces personnel in each service are due to renew their contracts in the next 12 months.

Andrew Robathan: holding answer 2 March 2011
	Armed forces personnel do not renew a contract of employment in its traditional form. If a current engagement is coming to an end, for reasons such as voluntary release or normal expiration of service, they may be offered or apply to extend their service if they meet the relevant eligibility criteria. Approval of that extension will only be given if it is in the interests of the service.

Armed Forces: Redundancy

Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the written ministerial statement of 1 March 2011,  Official Report, columns 21-22WS, on the armed forces redundancy process, what definition of personnel  (a) recently returned from operations and  (b) preparing to deploy on operations he uses.

Andrew Robathan: holding answer 4 March 2011
	 Those engaged in combat operations for which they are in receipt of operational allowance, are within six months of deploying or are recovering from those operations, for example on post-operational leave or rest and recuperation, on the day when the redundancy notices are issued will not be made redundant unless they have voluntarily applied for redundancy.

Armed Forces: Sexual Offences

Elfyn Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether the relevant foreign police force is informed in cases where a member of the armed forces who has been convicted of an offence and placed on the  (a) Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements and  (b) sex offender register is subsequently posted overseas.

Andrew Robathan: holding answer 17 February 2011
	No. Recording on the violent and sex offenders register is a United Kingdom requirement under the Sexual Offences Act 2003. This legislation does not require a government to inform an overseas police force of someone who has been required to register who is then posted to that country.

Armed Forces: Sexual Offences

Elfyn Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many former members of the armed forces have been placed on the sex offender register.

Andrew Robathan: holding answer 17 February 2011
	This information is not held as it would require a convicted individual to declare themselves as a former member of the armed forces.

Bermuda: Armed Forces

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what resources his Department provides for soldiers in the Bermuda Regiment.

Nick Harvey: The Bermuda Regiment is funded entirely by the Bermuda Government. The Ministry of Defence provides two Army personnel from the Royal Anglian Regiment to advise and assist the Bermuda Regiment and this arrangement is also largely funded by the Bermuda Government.

Bermuda: Armed Forces

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  whether there is any mechanism for soldiers in the Bermuda Regiment to obtain uniforms directly from his Department;
	(2)  what arrangements there are for soldiers in the Bermuda Regiment to procure their uniforms; and if he will make a statement.

Nick Harvey: There is no mechanism in place for soldiers in the Bermuda Regiment to obtain their uniforms from the Ministry of Defence.
	The Bermuda Regiment is self-funded by the Government of Bermuda and has its own process for procuring uniforms and other equipment.

Bermuda: Armed Forces

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what arrangements there are to make British Army training manuals available to soldiers of the Bermuda Regiment; and if he will make a statement.

Nick Harvey: The Bermuda Regiment can apply for British Army training manuals through their UK Defence Attaché, who will pass the request to the appropriate training establishment or issuing authority where it will be vetted and processed accordingly.

Bermuda: Armed Forces

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many places on British Army training courses have been allocated to soldiers of the Bermuda Regiment in each of the last 10 years.

Nick Harvey: No places on British Army training courses are directly allocated to the Bermuda Regiment or any other Defence force. Should soldiers from the Bermuda Regiment wish to attend a training course, they must apply to the appropriate training authority and places are allocated according to availability and priority.
	The number of soldiers of the Bermuda Regiment who have attended British Army training courses in each of the last 10 years is shown in the following table:
	
		
			   Number of Bermuda Regiment personnel attending training 
			 2000-01 15 
			 2001-02 13 
			 2002-03 18 
			 2003-04 21 
			 2004-05 14 
			 2005-06 12 
			 2006-07 19 
			 2007-08 8 
			 2008-09 18 
			 2009-10 8

Blue Force Property

Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what  (a) financial and  (b) other assistance his Department is offering to serving and former members of HM armed forces who have lost money as a result of property deals undertaken with (i) Blue Force Property and (ii) Blue Force Services; and if he will make a statement.

Andrew Robathan: holding answer 28 February 2011
	We have issued advice through the chain of command for those service personnel who may be affected. However, the Ministry of Defence cannot provide any financial assistance to serving or former members of HM armed forces who have lost money as a result of a private company going into liquidation. Serving personnel who believe they may be affected should consult their chain of command. Former service personnel can contact their local citizens advice bureau or the insolvency practitioners B and C Associates.

Civil Emergencies: Community Relations

Jim Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  how much his Department has spent on measures to develop community resilience to civil emergencies since May 2010; and how much he has allocated for such purposes over the comprehensive spending review period;
	(2)  what measures his Department has put in place to develop community resilience to civil emergencies since May 2010.

Nick Harvey: I refer the right hon. Member to the answer I gave on 29 November 2010,  Official Report, column 580W.
	Defence has a long history of providing a wide range of military support to the civil authorities in the event of a civil emergency. Defence normally provides support where the civil community requires specialist capabilities it does not have or additional capacity due to the severity of the emergency, such as during the severe weather which affected large parts of the United Kingdom in December 2010. Defence engages closely with local and regional responders and resilience organisations through its network of joint regional liaison officers who provide advice and guidance on the provision of Defence capabilities.
	Military support when provided at the request of, and in support of, other Government Departments, is normally provided on a reimbursement basis.

Defence

Jim Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what measures his Department has put in place to respond to  (a) terrorist attacks using unconventional materials,  (b) major tidal or coastal flooding and  (c) a severe influenza pandemic since May 2010.

Nick Harvey: Defence holds a range of specialist capabilities which can be deployed to support the police in the event of a terrorist attack in the UK. I am withholding the details of those capabilities as their disclosure would, or would be likely to prejudice the capability, effectiveness or security of the armed forces.
	Defence also plays a full part in cross-Government work to address potential civil emergencies including severe flooding and the possibility of an influenza pandemic. Defence has a long history of providing a wide range of support in the event of a civil emergency where the civil community requires specialist capabilities or additional capacity. Defence has provided assistance during severe weather outbreaks, including flooding and during the flu pandemic outbreak during 2009. This support continues to be available through the long established mechanism of military aid to the civil authorities.

Defence: Finance

Jim Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what plans he has for spending by his Department to enhance the UK's ability to tackle civil emergencies.

Nick Harvey: I refer the right hon. Member to the answer I gave on 29 November 2010,  Official Report, column 580W.
	Defence has a long history of providing assistance in the event of a civil emergency, providing specialist capabilities which may not be available in the civil community or augmenting civil capacity if it is overwhelmed by the scale of an event. Military assistance is normally provided on a reimbursement basis at the request of, and in support of, other Government Departments.

Defence: Information and Communications Technology

Jim Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what progress he has made on the development of the cyber operations memorandum of understanding; and if he will make a statement.

Nick Harvey: International engagement is critical to the Ministry of Defence (MOD)'s response to the challenges it faces in cyberspace. As part of a wider international programme which is coordinated by the Cabinet Office, the MOD is working with key allies to develop an enhanced relationship on Defence-related cyber issues. It is anticipated that this activity will result in development of new memorandum of understandings with key allies.

Departmental Manpower

Stewart Hosie: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many staff in his Department were in the Civil Service redeployment pool on the latest date for which figures are available; and how many of these had been in the redeployment pool for more than six months at that date.

Andrew Robathan: The Ministry of Defence (MOD) manages its surplus staff by using the Redeployment Pool (RDP). This service enables those who are or who will become surplus to be given priority consideration for vacancies. Staff in the RDP usually continue to work in their last directorate or are redeployed to cover short-term tasks. The RDP is also used by staff returning from overseas postings, including civilians supporting the armed services in operational theatres. The MOD is currently subject to a freeze on external recruitment and the RDP helps us to fill vacancies from within existing staff resources.
	The latest available data are as at 1 January 2011, when there were 1,320 people in the RDP. Of these, 650 had been in the RDP for more than six months. These figures are rounded to the nearest 10.

Departmental Pay

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much his Department paid in bonuses to civil servants in 2009-10; how many bonuses were paid; what the aggregate monetary value of those bonuses was; and what the highest bonus paid was.

Andrew Robathan: Officials in the Ministry of Defence are currently collating the information requested. I will write to the hon. Member.
	 Substantive answer from Andrew Robathan to Angus Robertson:
	I undertook to write to you in my response to your Parliamentary Question about civil servants' bonuses on 7 February (Official Report column 27W).
	A close and effective link between pay and performance is an important element of the reward arrangements for the Civil Service. The payments reflect the individual's performance during the previous year, and are therefore a direct and immediate award to those who have achieved challenging objectives. The performance element of pay is known, colloquially but misleadingly, as a bonus. In fact, the performance-related element of pay is an integral part of an individual's pay and not an addition to it: it is funded from the core pay bill. The non-consolidated element of pay has increased over the years as consolidated pay awards have formed a lower percentage of the total pay bill. They are a cost effective way of rewarding staff because there is no assumption that the awards will be repeated the following year, so they do not add to future pay bill growth, and because they are not pensionable.
	The MOD also operates an in-year non-consolidated payment scheme, the Special Bonus Scheme (SBS), which rewards eligible MOD civilians for exceptional performance of a specific task or for the achievement of a professional qualification the use of which benefits MOD and the individual.
	For the Senior Civil Service (SCS), performance incentives are paid primarily as non-consolidated performance payments. Any award is based on a judgment of how well an individual has performed against their peers, with groups of proposed awards judged by panels of senior staff, who make awards to the individuals who have made the greatest in-year contribution to business objectives.
	Senior Fixed Term employees are individuals who are recruited through fair and open competition from outside the civil service. Those employed as Senior Fixed Term Appointees (FTAs) are on individual contracts and have a higher percentage of pay set to performance awards which are judged against stringent and stretching delivery based objectives. Some of these payments are paid in stages, and it is now usual to pay only part of the performance award immediately with the remainder deferred for two to three years and judged against the delivery of medium to longer term objectives.
	Performance is judged by line management with assistance from senior officials, stakeholders, remuneration committees and in some cases internal audit.
	The total values of non consolidated end of year performance pay made by the Department, the total numbers paid and the values of the highest awards are shown below:
	
		
			  Grade  Value of payments (£)  Numbers of payments  Highest award paid (£)  Average award paid (£) 
			 SCS 1,594,500 195 15,000 8,177 
			 Snr FTA 838,393 27 84,563 31,052 
			 Below SCS 40,248,079 58,096 5,635 693 
		
	
	The total value of non consolidated in-year performance payments made by the Department through the SBS, the number paid and the value of the highest award is shown below:
	
		
			  Grade  Value of payments (£)  Number of payments  Highest award paid (£) 
			 Below SCS 4,030,103 8,573 2,000 
		
	
	These figures update information provided in previous answers to the hon. Member for Carshalton and Wallington 24 June 2010 (Official Report column 289W), and the hon. Member for Witham 11 November 2010 (Official Report column 439W).

Electoral Reform Services

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the monetary value was of contracts his Department placed with Electoral Reform Services in each year since 2005.

Andrew Robathan: The Ministry of Defence's central contracts database has no record since 2005 of payments to Electoral Reform Services.

Ex-servicemen: Radiation Exposure

Chris Williamson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence for what reason there is a difference between the 6,000 recorded exposures to radiation in the UK atomic tests reported to the House on 19 December 1984,  Official Report, columns 389-98, and the number of recorded exposures admitted to by his Department in recent High Court proceedings.

Andrew Robathan: The figures given in 1984 in relation to the number of recorded exposures to radiation covered all the UK atomic tests. The personal injury group action is not concerned with all the tests and therefore the figure provided in the Ministry of Defence's defence is different.

HMS Victory

Andrew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what representations he has received from the National Museum of the Royal Navy on the future management of the wreck of HMS Victory 1744.

Andrew Robathan: The National Museum of the Royal Navy has made no representations on the future management of the wreck of HMS Victory.

Military Aircraft

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what estimate he has made of the potential savings resulting from a reduction in the initial order of Joint Stroke Fighters from 138 to 40 in  (a) 2011-12,  (b) 2012-13,  (c) 2013-14 and  (d) 2014-15.

Peter Luff: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 3 November 2010,  Official Report, column 853W, to the hon. Member for Moray (Angus Robertson).

Military Aircraft

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the condition was of each of the five BAe 125 aircraft sold by his Department in 2007; and how many hours had been flown in the aircraft in total at the date of sale.

Peter Luff: Prior to their disposal in 2007, the five BAe 125 aircraft (Dominie T1 RAF variant) had been in service for over 40 years and were no longer fit to fly. Towards the end of their service life they had been used for ground training of RAF personnel. Before being sold through a widely advertised competition, all equipment and systems that could be used on other in-service aircraft was removed.
	While in service, each airframe had been flown for between 12,000 and 17,000 hours, a total for the five aircraft of 72,496 hours.

Military Aircraft

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many VC10 aircraft 101 Squadron has; how many are in service at present; and what their commitments are.

Nick Harvey: holding answer 4 March 2011
	 101 Squadron is the only squadron to operate the VC-10 aircraft. The number of VC-10 aircraft in the in-service fleet is 13. In-service aircraft include all bar those which are redundant, declared as surplus or awaiting disposal.
	The number of VC-10 aircraft available to 101 Squadron from the in-service fleet will vary from day to day as part of normal fleet management activities including routine and mandated maintenance programmes. VC-10 aircraft operate from a number of locations around the world carrying out a range of military tasks.

Military Aircraft

Douglas Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what arrangements his Department has for passing on to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office the costs to the public purse of military transport commissioned by that Department.

Nick Harvey: holding answer 4 March 2011
	 Charging for any assistance will be in accordance with Her Majesty's Treasury guidance in "Managing Public Money".

Military Aircraft

Fabian Hamilton: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence on what date his Department reached agreement with the US administration on freehold arrangements affecting  (a) buildings,  (b) fixed assets and infrastructure and  (c) the site at Menwith Hill.

Andrew Robathan: Arrangements covering the freehold of buildings, fixed assets and infrastructure at all United States Visiting Force (USVF) sites, including RAF Menwith Hill, are covered in the UK/US Cost Sharing Arrangement (CSA) dated 1973. This document updated the initial CSA from 1953. The Ministry of Defence has made the site at RAF Menwith Hill available to the USVF since 1960.

Military Aircraft

Fabian Hamilton: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer of 4 February 2011,  Official Report, column 990W, on USA: military bases, what the location is of each area on United States Visiting Forces bases which is held on a leasehold basis.

Andrew Robathan: The following table details the areas at the United States Visiting Force bases which are held on a leasehold basis:
	
		
			   Area  Total Hectares 
			 RAF Croughton Pumping Station (3 separate areas) 0.01 
			   0.01 
			   0.059 
			
			 RAF Fairford Landing Lights 0.041 
			
			 RAF Lakenheath Vehicle Holding Area 1.28 
			  Leased Area of Lords Walk 0.908 
			
			 RAF Mildenhall Waterworks Access 0.074

Military Aircraft: Operating Costs

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the operating cost per flight hour is of the  (a) Tornado GR4,  (b) Tornado F3 and  (c) Typhoon FGR4 aircraft.

Peter Luff: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 14 September 2010,  Official Report, column 928W, to the hon. Member for Moray (Angus Robertson).

Military Exercises

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether his Department has plans to conduct joint exercises with  (a) Indian,  (b) Sri Lankan and  (c) Indonesian military personnel.

Nick Harvey: The United Kingdom is committed to an enhanced partnership with India and we have an extensive defence relationship which includes regular bi-lateral exercises across all three services. This year, planning is under way for an Army exercise between July and August in the UK and a Navy Command post exercise in the autumn in India. There are no plans for joint exercises with Sri Lanka or Indonesia.

Navy

Steven Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment he has made of the potential effects on  (a) the Royal Navy and  (b) his Department's policy on the deployment of a private anti-piracy fleet in the Gulf of Aden by the shipping industry.

Nick Harvey: Her Majesty's Government (HMG) is aware of ongoing debate in the private sector on the possible contribution that private military security companies could make to the international community's counter-piracy response. HMG remains open to proposals which seek to assist in combating piracy off the Horn of Africa.
	Any proposal of this nature would need to operate in a clear framework and be properly co-ordinated and de-conflicted with all international naval forces operating in the region, including the three multi-national counter-piracy missions in which the Royal Navy operates. Such a concept would also need to comply with applicable international law.

Nimrod Aircraft

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what estimate he has made of the potential savings resulting from the cancellation of Nimrod in  (a) 2011-12,  (b) 2012-13,  (c) 2013-14 and  (d) 2014-15.

Peter Luff: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by the Minister for the Armed Forces, the hon. Member for North Devon (Nick Harvey), on 13 January 2011,  Official Report, column 445W, to the hon. Member for Glasgow South (Mr Harris) and the hon. Member for Stalybridge and Hyde (Jonathan Reynolds).

Radio Frequencies

Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what fee he expects his Department to pay Ofcom for the use of its spectrum holdings in the financial year 2011-12.

Peter Luff: £155 million.

RAF Valley

Ben Wallace: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what civilian contractors work at RAF Valley; and in what capacity.

Nick Harvey: The Ministry of Defence does not record the number of civilian contractors at RAF Valley as this is a matter for the contractor. Contractors provide an extensive range of support services including: estates and facilities management; aircraft maintenance and support; flying training delivery; search and rescue maintenance and operational support; hotel, catering and leisure; and bird control.

Strategic Defence and Security Review

Jim Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what measures his Department has put in place to meet its commitment in the Strategic Defence and Security Review to  (a) strengthen international commitments to non-proliferation treaties and  (b) refocus critical programmes for building security overseas.

Nick Harvey: The Ministry of Defence (MOD) is working closely with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, the Department for Environment and Climate Change (DECC) and other Departments to deliver the commitments in the strategic defence and security review (SDSR).
	The Government are committed to publishing a building stability overseas strategy by spring 2011. This strategy will look wider than just security and will examine how we can prioritise and use our defence, diplomatic and development tools to support inclusive politics, economic growth and stronger institutions as the base for building global stability and resilience.
	The UK considers the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT) the cornerstone of the international nuclear non-proliferation regime. We announced a number of significant disarmament measures in the SDSR, which demonstrated our commitment to the NPT. We are also working closely with both nuclear and non-nuclear weapon states to make progress on the May 2010 Review Conference Action Plan, which covers all three NPT pillars (disarmament, non-proliferation and peaceful uses).
	The Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (BTWC) is the key international instrument for biological disarmament. MOD's overriding interest in the BTWC is to minimise the risks that biological weapons will be used by state and non-state actors against UK interests, including our deployed UK forces. We aim to do this by ensuring that the BTWC is being strengthened in a way that increases its deterrent, transparency, confidence building, and investigative value. The UK is working closely with the EU and allied partners towards the seventh review conference of the BTWC in December 2011, with the UK objective: of strengthening the convention.
	The chemical weapons convention is a successful international instrument for chemical disarmament which has already seen the verifiable destruction of more than 63% of the world's declared chemical weapons. MOD expertise and engagement underpins the leading role the UK takes with the EU and allies in the work to implement and strengthen the convention.
	The Global Threat Reduction Programme (GTRP), the UK's contribution to the G8 Global Partnership against the Spread of Weapons and Materials of Mass Destruction, remains a priority for the UK. It is a key element in the UK's work to ensure that chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear materials and expertise are out of reach to terrorist groups or hostile states. As part of GTRP, the MOD's biological non-proliferation programme continues to develop in scale and geographical range to support these aims. Projects have included activities such as, strengthening biosafety and biosecurity, promoting the use of biological agents for peaceful purposes, and contributing to implementation of the BTWC. DECC delivers the nuclear and radiological elements of the programme, while the MOD managed the now-complete programme of assistance to Russia with chemical weapons destruction.
	The GTRP also provides assistance that enables countries to meet their international commitments including to United Nations Security Resolution 1540 (UNSCR 1540), which requires the adoption and enforcement of controls to prohibit non-state actors from acquiring the ability to deliver a chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear attack.

Vanguard Submarine

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Islington North of 16 February 2011,  Official Report, column 806W, how much of the £330 million allocated to the programme to replace the Vanguard submarine in financial year 2010-11 has been spent in each cost category to date.

Nick Harvey: To the end of February 2011, £219.05 million had been consumed on the Vanguard submarine replacement programme, comprising Resource Department Expenditure Limit of £178.18 million, and Capital Department Expenditure Limit of £40.87 million.

Warships

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the current location is of  (a) HMS Ocean,  (b) HMS Bulwark and  (c) HMS Albion; and what the current duties of each are.

Nick Harvey: On 3 March 2011, HMS Ocean was in the south coast exercise area conducting operational sea training. HMS Bulwark has recently come out of a refit period and is conducting trials and training from Devonport. HMS Albion is currently alongside at Devonport for routine maintenance and is available for operational tasking.

Warships

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the  (a) name and  (b) type is of each (i) frigate and (ii) destroyer to be decommissioned over the next five years.

Andrew Robathan: Under our present planning assumptions, the following frigates and destroyers will be withdrawn from service over the next five years:
	
		
			   Frigates and destroyers 
			 HMS Campbeltown Type 22 frigate 
			 HMS Cumberland Type 22 frigate 
			 HMS Cornwall Type 22 frigate 
			 HMS Gloucester Type 42 destroyer 
			 HMS Liverpool Type 42 destroyer 
			 HMS York Type 42 destroyer 
			 HMS Edinburgh Type 42 destroyer 
		
	
	Although the decision to withdraw the Type 22 frigates was taken as part of the strategic defence and security review, we had already planned to withdraw the Type 42 destroyers and replace them with the Type 45 destroyers.

Warships

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what estimate he has made of the number of ships required to counter  (a) immediate and  (b) long-term threats to the UK.

Nick Harvey: Our future requirement for naval forces was assessed during the strategic defence and security review and set out in the White Paper "Securing Britain in an Age of Uncertainty: The Strategic Defence and Security Review (Cm 7948)". Potential short-term threats to UK interests are continually reviewed and the Royal Navy's present force structure is judged to be sufficient to meet our immediate security requirements.

ENERGY AND CLIMATE CHANGE

Departmental Expenditure

Stephen Barclay: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what expenditure  (a) his Department and  (b) each public body sponsored by his Department incurred on engaging external audit services in each of the last three years; and to which service providers such payments were made in each year.

Gregory Barker: The National Audit Office provides the external audit service for the Department and its four executive non-departmental public bodies. The costs of this work for the last three completed financial years are given in the following table. In the case of the Department these are notional and no actual payment is made. The Department and the Committee on Climate Change were established during 2008-09 so figures for 2007-08 are not applicable.
	
		
			  £000 
			   2009-10  2008-09  2007-08 
			 Department of Energy and Climate Change 190 200 n/a 
			 Civil Nuclear Police Authority 44 44 42 
			 Coal Authority 57 39 75 
			 Committee on Climate Change 27 20 n/a 
			 Nuclear Decommissioning Authority 976 960 880

Departmental Leaseback Arrangements

Stewart Hosie: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what assets his Department has sold and leased back over the last 12 months; what the sale price was of each asset so sold; and what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of leasing back each such asset over the period of the lease.

Gregory Barker: The Department for Energy and Climate Change has not sold and leased back any assets in the last 12 months.

Departmental Procurement

Dominic Raab: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what the cost to the public purse was of the  (a) procurement and  (b) outsourcing function of (i) his Department and (ii) each (A) non-departmental public body and (B) non-ministerial department for which he is responsible in the last financial year for which figures are available.

Gregory Barker: The costs of the procurement function in my department and the non-departmental public bodies I am responsible for are presented in the following table.
	In all cases there is no separate outsourcing function in the organisations for which I am responsible. The costs of administering outsourcing arrangements is included within the procurement functions of those organisations.
	
		
			  Organisation  Cost of procurement function (2009-10) (£) 
			 Department of Energy and Climate Change(1) 261,000 
			 Nuclear Decommissioning Authority(1) 443,947 
			 Civil Nuclear Police Authority(1) 301,000 
			 Coal Authority(2) 193,053 
			 Committee on Climate Change(2, 3) 0 
			 (1) Source: http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/resource-library/back-office-benchmark-information-200910 (2) Source-Internal records (3) Committee on Climate Change does not have a separate procurement function, procurement is undertaken by finance staff, costs of procurement activities are not separately identified. 
		
	
	Information is not held by the Department for the Office of Gas and Electricity Markets (Ofgem), a non-ministerial department for which I am responsible. As an organisation with fewer than 250 staff, Ofgem was not included in the Cabinet Office benchmarking study which makes the costs of procurement functions publicly available. Details could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Electoral Reform Services

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what the monetary value was of contracts his Department placed with Electoral Reform Services in each year since 2005.

Gregory Barker: The Department of Energy and Climate Change has not spent anything with Electoral Reform Services since its creation in October 2008.

Electricity

Tessa Munt: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change if he will use powers under Section 14(3) of the Planning Act 2008 to include electricity network infrastructure projects that are underground or sub-sea in the list of nationally significant infrastructure projects.

Charles Hendry: Installation of underground cables is permitted development under the Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) Order (1995) as amended. In view of these permitted development rights there is generally no need for proposals for the underground cable elements of a project to be caught by the Planning Act regime, although (in England) it would be possible for the developer to include aspects of an underground scheme other than the cable itself (such as sealing end compounds) in a Planning Act application as associated development. Other than in these specific cases, in view of these permitted development rights I do not consider there to be a case to require developers to obtain consent for installation of underground cables under the Planning Act regime, which would amount to a significant extra burden on developers.
	Applications for sub-sea cables are considered by the Marine Management Organisation under the Food and Environment Protection Act 1985 (FEPA)- to be superseded in April this year by a new marine licensing regime under the Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009. The Infrastructure Planning Commission in England can consent a sub-sea cable as associated development if it forms part of the infrastructure for an offshore generating station by granting a deemed FEPA Licence or marine licence under (respectively) section 149 or 149(A) of the Planning Act.
	I consider these arrangements to be adequate at this stage and do not intend to require applications for sub-sea cables to be included in the list of nationally significant infrastructure projects in the Planning Act.

Electricity

Tessa Munt: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change whether he took into account the effect on the time taken to achieve electricity connections by means of underground cables of the failure of National Grid and relevant landowners to come to agreement under existing planning arrangements in specifying the list of projects classified as nationally significant infrastructure projects under section 14(1) of the Planning Act 2008.

Charles Hendry: Installation of underground cables is permitted development under the Town and Country Planning Act (General Permitted Development) Order (1995) as amended. In view of these permitted development rights there is generally no need for proposals for the underground cable elements of a project to be caught by the Planning Act regime, although (in England) it would be possible for the developer to include aspects of an underground scheme other than the cable itself (such as sealing end compounds) in a Planning Act application as associated development.

Energy Supply: Wychavon

Harriett Baldwin: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many households in the Wychavon District Council area did not have a mains supply for  (a) electricity and  (b) gas in the latest period for which figures are available.

Gregory Barker: Data on the number of households by local authority without an electricity or gas mains supply are not available.
	An estimate of the number of households off the gas grid at Government office region can be derived using data from the English House Survey (EHS), produced by DCLG. In 2008, based on the EHS, there were around 281,000 households in the West Midlands that did not have a mains gas connection. The number of households without a mains electricity connection is too small to be reliably estimated from a sample survey such as the EHS.

Energy: Housing

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how he expects energy efficiency improvements to be measured following the repeal of the Home Energy Conservation Act 1995 by the provisions of the Energy Bill.

Gregory Barker: The Government reports, in October each year, on progress in meeting the UK carbon budgets (sector by sector) in response to the Committee on Climate Change's annual progress reports every June.
	In addition to these existing reporting mechanisms, from 2012 there will be detailed reporting of energy efficiency measures to support the forthcoming Green Deal and the future Energy Company Obligation. The Energy Bill seeks powers for reporting purposes allowing the Secretary of State to define what information should be reported and how often, including detailed information on measures delivered in individual properties.

Energy: Housing

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what discussions he has had with Ministerial colleagues on preparations for the recruitment, training and deployment of  (a) independent energy surveyors and  (b) appropriately qualified installers to assess home energy use in homes participating in the Green Deal.

Gregory Barker: I am working closely with the appropriate ministerial colleagues across Government to ensure that robust and high quality standards are in place for all assessors and installers operating under the Green Deal. At the end of 2010, DECC and the Department for Communities and Local Government issued a Call for Evidence seeking views on how to improve the energy performance of buildings in support of the Green Deal, including qualifications arrangements for energy assessors. We have also set up advisory forums for both the assessment and installation stages of the Green Deal. Through these forums we will work with the private, public and voluntary sectors to ensure that industry is appropriately supported and prepared to train and recruit the necessary people ahead of the Green Deal launch. Further information on the forums is available at:
	http://www.decc.gov.uk/en/content/cms/what_we_do/consumers/green_deal/green_deal.aspx

Energy: Housing

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what assessment his Department has made of the need for incentives to encourage households to take part in the Green Deal.

Gregory Barker: The Green Deal will be a market led initiative and we expect providers to develop packages that are attractive for consumers including a range of marketing incentives. However, to help gauge potential take-up we have commissioned a number of pieces of social research to assess how to make the Green Deal most attractive to consumers. The research will be completed prior to this autumn's consultation on the Green Deal.

Energy: Housing

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what steps he plans to take to oversee the work of energy-saving installers under the Green Deal; by what means they will be selected; and what steps he plans to take to measure their cost and performance.

Gregory Barker: It will be key to the success of the Green Deal that all work to install energy efficiency measures is carried out to a high standard. We are therefore establishing a Green Deal installer certification framework, which will ensure that all work has carried out by companies using competent individuals, following the necessary technical guidance, and supported by appropriate customer care procedures and routes of redress. Only companies that have been certified and authorised to carry the Green Deal quality mark will be work under the Green Deal. The details of this framework are being discussed with the Green Deal installation stakeholder advisory forum, and will be set out in due course in secondary legislation.

Energy: Private Rented Housing

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change pursuant to the Answer of 17 February 2011, Official Report, column 911W, on energy: housing, what consideration he has given to measures to increase the level of take up of cost-effective abatement measures in the private rented market; and if he will make a statement.

Gregory Barker: The Green Deal will enable the take up of cost effective abatement measures at no upfront cost. Commercial organisations will want to market their Green Deal to raise awareness of its benefits amongst landlords and tenants alike. We will continue to work with landlord associations and industry groups to ensure all communication channels are used.

Environment Protection

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what definition of zero-carbon technology (a) his Department uses and (b) is used in the Revised Draft Overarching National Policy Statements on Energy; and if he will make a statement.

Gregory Barker: DECC does not have a definition of zero carbon technology and the revised draft energy National Policy Statements do not define or use this term.
	DECC has a definition of the term carbon neutral: through a transparent process of calculating emissions, reducing those emissions and offsetting residual emissions - net carbon emissions equal zero. Further information can be found at:
	http://www.decc.gov.uk/en/content/cms/what_we_do/lc_uk/neutrality/neutrality.aspx

Environment Protection: Metals

Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change 
	(1)  what assessment has been made of the potential cost to firms developing green technologies of sourcing rare earth metals from  (a) China,  (b) the US,  (c) Canada and  (d) South Africa; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  what assessment has been made of the effects on the environment of importing rare earth metals from  (a) China,  (b) the US,  (c) Canada and  (d) South Africa for use in the green technologies industry; and if he will make a statement.

Gregory Barker: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave her on 4 March 2011,  Official Report, Column 616W.
	I understand that China is the dominant supplier of rare earth metals, although a number of other countries (including the US, Japan and Australia) have their own reserves which are likely to become available after 2014.
	Given this and my understanding that the use of rare earth metals is almost non-existent in commercial scale turbines in this country, there is no evidence that such assessments are needed at present. I am happy to consider any evidence to the contrary.

Fuel Poverty

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change whether he has any plans to revise his Department's definition of fuel poverty.

Gregory Barker: The coalition government announced in the spending review that, to ensure the available resources are focused most effectively in tackling the problems underlying fuel poverty, an independent review of the fuel poverty target and definition would be initiated. We expect the review to get under way shortly and to receive a final report from the review by the end of the year.

Industrial Diseases: Compensation

Eilidh Whiteford: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how much his Department spent contesting claims by sufferers of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease prior to the introduction of the compensation scheme in 1999.

Charles Hendry: The liabilities for British Coal were transferred to the Department on 1 January 1998. On 23 January 1998 the Honourable Mr Justice Turner gave Judgment against the British Coal Corporation in respect of 8 lead actions in which damages were sought for personal injury and damage predominantly in respect of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease and chronic bronchitis. During the period January 1998 to September 1999 claims for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease which were registered against the British Coal Corporation were not progressed individually pending the negotiation and finalisation of the Claims Handling Agreement. During this period the Department spent c£552,000.00 on legal fees (solicitors and experts) to meet the Department's obligations for negotiating the Claims Handling Agreement with a Steering Group representing the interests of claimants. The Claims Handling Agreement was signed off on 24 September 1999.

Oil: Offshore Industry

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change if he will consider the merits of introducing legislative proposals to repeal all existing enabling legislation promoting further oil exploration in hard-to-reach areas in UK waters.

Charles Hendry: No, I envisage no such proposals. We have robust regulatory systems in the UK to protect the environment and ensure safe working. It is very much in Britain's interests for as much as possible of our future oil and gas supplies to be produced here, rather than in other countries which may not maintain the same standards.

Renewable Energy: Feed-in Tariffs

Huw Irranca-Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change whether his Department receives any revenue from electricity feed-in tariffs.

Gregory Barker: At present DECC does not generate any low carbon energy from its estate and therefore does not derive any revenue from electricity feed-in tariffs.

BUSINESS, INNOVATION AND SKILLS

Access to Learning Fund

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how much has been allocated to the Access to Learning Fund in  (a) each of the last five years and  (b) each of the next four years; and if he will make a statement.

David Willetts: The Access to Learning Fund (ALF) is a discretionary fund that provides additional support for higher education students facing financial hardship. ALF is administered by individual Higher Education Institutions and Further Education Colleges who make their own decisions about how best to target their allocation, taking into account their student population and their knowledge of local circumstances. In the academic year 2009-10 (the most recent year for which we have data) the ALF was used to help around 89,000 full or part-time students.
	The ALF budget is announced one year at a time: the allocation for 2011/12 is £40 million. The following table shows how much funding was allocated by the Department to ALF in each of the past five years. Reductions in the ALF budget should be viewed in the context of improved statutory support for students.
	
		
			  Academic year  Allocation (£ million) 
			 2006/07 64 
			 2007/08 56 
			 2008/09 50 
			 2009/10 45 
			 2010/11 40

Charity Research Support Fund

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how much funding from the public purse has been allocated to the Charity Research Support Fund in each of the last five years for which figures are available; and how much such funding he plans to allocate in each year of the Comprehensive Spending Review period.

David Willetts: The Government recognise the significant contribution made by charitable funders of research. The charity support element of quality-related (QR) research funding, provided by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE), has recognised the public benefit arising from research funded by charities. HEFCE funding for this element is set out in the following table.
	
		
			   Amount (£ million) 
			 2006-07 135.7 
			 2007-08 180.0 
			 2008-09 184.9 
			 2009-10 192.1 
			 2010-11 197.5 
		
	
	The "Allocation of Science and Research Funding 2011-2015" published on 20 December 2010 confirmed that HEFCE will protect support for institutions leveraging funding from external sources, such as the charitable and business sectors. HEFCE announced on 2 February that they would maintain the charity support element of QR at £197.5 million for 2011-12. It will be for the HEFCE board to determine the levels of funding to deploy in future from within its overall research allocation. The "Allocation of Science and Research Funding 2011-2015" is available at:
	http://www.bis.gov.uk/news/topstories/2010/Dec/science-research-and-hefce-funding

Citizens Advice Bureaux: Finance

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills which organisations his Department consulted in developing its policy on future funding of citizens advice bureaux in accordance with paragraph 2.4 of the Compact between Government and civil society organisations; what feedback his Department has given to the consultees in accordance with paragraph 2.5 of the Compact; and what assessment he has made of the effect of that policy on local efforts to inspire and encourage social action and to empower communities in accordance with paragraph 2.2 of the Compact.

Edward Davey: The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills supports the Citizens Advice Service in England and Wales and in Scotland through grant in aid funding to the umbrella organisations and that funding is being maintained in 2011/12. However, funding for local citizens advice bureaux is not a matter for central Government but for local authorities who are better able to determine the structure and level of funding of advice services in their area which meets local needs.
	Local spending decisions are, and will continue to be, for local authorities. However, the Government do not expect local authorities to respond to this freedom by passing on disproportionate cuts to other service providers, especially the voluntary sector. Local authorities should work through funding changes with the voluntary sector, and have due regard to their local compact.

Electoral Reform Services

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what the monetary value was of contracts his Department placed with Electoral Reform Services in each year since 2005.

Edward Davey: Central records show that the value of contracts placed with Electoral Reform Services in each financial year by the Department and its predecessors since 2005 has been:
	
		
			   £ 
			 2005-06 0 
			 2006-07 587.50 
			 2007-08 352.50 
			 2008-09 470.00 
			 2009-10 460.00 
			 2010-11 470.00

Gangmasters: Licensing

Natascha Engel: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills whether his Department plans to end licensing for employment agencies and gangmasters operating in the sectors covered by the Gangmasters Licensing Authority.

James Paice: I have been asked to reply.
	The Government have no plans to end licensing of labour providers in the sectors regulated by the Gangmasters Licensing Authority.

Higher Education: Finance

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the University Modernisation Fund; and if he will make a statement.

David Willetts: The University Modernisation Fund provided teaching grants in the 2010/11 academic year for an extra 10,000 student places. Under the rules of the scheme, teaching costs for subsequent years would be met from efficiencies within those institutions taking up the places, rather than from Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) grant. In addition, £20 million was invested in projects to increase the take-up and effectiveness of shared services in the sector. Although all of the additional places were taken up and projects are in place to utilise the shared services element of the fund, it is too early to make an assessment of its effectiveness.

Higher Education: Finance

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how much has been allocated to the University Modernisation Fund in  (a) each of the last five years and  (b) each of the next four years; and if he will make a statement.

David Willetts: The University Modernisation Fund announced in the budget of March 2010 was intended to provide funding for 2010-11 only. The emergency Budget in June 2010 set the level of funding at £152 million.

Higher Education: Finance

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many universities were awarded New University Challenge funding from the Higher Education Funding Council for England in the latest period for which figures are available.

David Willetts: The New University Challenge was a policy of the previous government. No universities have received funding from the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) for this policy and HEFCE did not receive specific allocations to spend on this policy. In the forthcoming Higher Education White Paper, the Government will set out reforms which will reduce barriers to new providers and better enable student choice to determine the nature and place of delivery of higher education.

Holiday Leave

Barbara Keeley: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what steps he has taken to provide information to small employers on statutory holiday entitlement.

Edward Davey: Information and guidance about statutory annual leave entitlements is available to employees on the Business Link website which is designed to be helpful to businesses of all sizes. This site also has an interactive tool to assist with the calculation of annual leave provisions. Information is also available from ACAS online and through their helpline and on the Direct.gov website.

Insolvency

Edward Balls: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many people have been declared insolvent in each  (a) region and  (b) constituency since May 2010.

Edward Davey: Regional insolvency figures are only compiled annually, and data for 2010 will not be available until summer 2011.
	The latest publication down to local authority level covers all types of individual insolvency in England and Wales from 2000 to 2009 and can be found on the Insolvency Service website at:
	http://www.insolvency.gov.uk/otherinformation/statistics/regionalstatisticsmenu.htm

Local Enterprise Partnerships: East of England

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills if he will place in the Library a copy of bids submitted by the Greater Cambridge and Greater Peterborough Local Enterprise Partnership as at 21 January 2011 under the auspices of the Regional Growth Fund; and if he will make a statement.

Mark Prisk: It is not possible to place copies of bids in the Libraries of the House as the information has been provided to us in confidence and the Department would like to respect this confidentiality. However, a summary of bids received in Round 1 of the Regional Growth Fund is available on the BIS website:
	www.bis.gov.uk/RGF

Neurology: Research

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how much funding from the public purse has been allocated to research into neuroscience in each of the last five years; and how much such funding will be allocated in each year of the Comprehensive Spending Review period.

David Willetts: Both the Medical Research Council (MRC) and Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) fund research into aspects of neurosciences. Each council is a non-departmental public body which receives its grant in aid from the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.
	The total annual spend for BBSRC research relevant to neuroscience for the past five years is detailed in the following table.
	
		
			  Total annual spend 
			  £ million 
			   2005/06  2006/07  2007/08  2008/09  2009/10 
			 BBSRC funding for research relevant to neuroscience(1) 28.3 31.8 35.2 39.5 40.4 
			 (1) Includes funding through the following mechanisms: responsive mode, initiatives, fellowships to HEIs and BBSRC institutes and core strategic funding to BBSRC institutes. 
		
	
	BBSRC does not have fixed allocations for neuroscience funding. Future funding of neuroscience research by BBSRC is dependent on the quality and strategic relevance of grant applications. Funding will be allocated over the next four years in relation to relevance to BBSRC's strategic priorities and BBSRC's four-year spending review settlement. A smaller part of that neuroscience research historically funded by BBSRC now falls within BBSRC's current strategic priorities. It is likely therefore, that there will be a reduction in BBSRC funding over the next spending review period for neuroscience research that is considered to fall outside BBSRC's strategic priorities. A precise level of funding for future neuroscience funding cannot be stated since, until BBSRC has received applications and their relevance and quality has been assessed, it will be difficult to determine, but as a broad estimate, not an allocation, which is all that is possible at this stage, BBSRC believe that their total neuroscience funding might run at approximately £36 million/year.
	The total annual spend for MRC research relevant to neuroscience and mental health for the past five years is detailed in the following table.
	
		
			  Total annual spend 
			  £ million 
			   2005/06  2006/07  2007/08  2008/09  2009/10 
			 MRC funding for research relevant to neuroscience and mental health 108.1 108.7 121.7 141.5 155.4 
		
	
	The MRC's Delivery Plan for the spending review period 2011/12 to 2014/15 outlines plans to increase funding in research into mental health, neurodegeneration, and addiction. The MRC therefore expects to see an increase in funding for neuroscience, but the exact level of funding will be dependent on the quality and strategic relevance of grant applications received.

New Businesses

Harriett Baldwin: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills when his Department plans to review the Technology Strategy Board rules on research contracts with start-up businesses and micro-businesses.

David Willetts: The Technology Strategy Board only issues research and development contracts in relation to the Small Business Research Initiative scheme and the terms and conditions of these contracts are determined by public procurement rules.
	The Technology Strategy Board also issues grant offer letters to businesses under activities such as Collaborative R and D and Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (KTPs) which operate within state aid rules and are consistent with the terms and conditions designed and operated by the then DTI who previously delivered such interventions. However, the Technology Strategy Board operates these interventions flexibly, recognising the dynamics of the sector at which they are targeted resulting in for example, a feasibility studies scheme to enable small and micro companies to buy in expertise from universities in the area of the creative industries; and shorter term, flexible KTPs focused on smaller companies not requiring a more in depth, longer term project.
	The Technology Strategy Board will be the subject of a formal five-yearly review in 2012 which will assess its performance including its ability to engage with a range of businesses.

Post Offices: Closures

David Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills how many sub-post office branches closed  (a) in total and  (b) in each local authority area in the East of England in each year since 1997.

Edward Davey: The information requested is an operational matter for Post Office Ltd. I have therefore asked Paula Vennells, the managing director of the Post Office Ltd, to respond directly to my hon. Friend and a copy of her reply will be placed in the Libraries of the House.

Public Holidays

Thomas Docherty: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what assessment he has made of the potential effect on the economy of the replacement of the May Day bank holiday by a bank holiday in October.

Edward Davey: holding answer 4 March 2011
	The Government have made no assessment yet of the effects of the replacement of the May Day bank holiday with a bank holiday in October for any sector.
	In the recent Tourism Strategy, DCMS has announced plans to conduct a full consultation and impact assessment on possibly moving the May Day bank holiday. Further details on the consultation will be published in due course.

Public Holidays

Thomas Docherty: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what assessment he has made of the effects of the replacement of the May Day bank holiday by a bank holiday in October on the (a) horticultural and  (b) do-it-yourself retail sectors.

Edward Davey: holding answer 4 March 2011
	The Government have made no assessment yet of the effects of the replacement of the May Day bank holiday with a bank holiday in October for any sector.
	In the recent Tourism Strategy, DCMS has announced plans to conduct a full consultation and impact assessment on possibly moving the May Day bank holiday. Further details on the consultation will be published in due course.

Public Holidays

Thomas Docherty: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what recent representations he has received on the replacement of the May Day bank holiday by a bank holiday in October.

Edward Davey: holding answer 4 March 2011
	The Government regularly receives representations requesting additional bank holidays or for existing ones to be moved to a new date.
	In the recent Tourism Strategy DCMS has announced plans to conduct a full consultation and impact assessment on possibly moving the May Day bank holiday. Further details on the consultation will be published in due course.

Students: Finance

David Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what proportion of students normally resident in the Suffolk local education authority area applied for  (a) student loans and  (b) grants for the (i) 2008-09, (ii) 2009-10 and (iii) 2010-11 academic years.

David Willetts: It is not possible to provide the proportions requested because figures for higher education courses in further education colleges are not available at local authority level.
	The number of full-time students, residing in the local authority of Suffolk when they applied for financial support, who were awarded student loans or grants in academic years 2008/09 to 2010/11 is shown in Table 1. Figures for academic year 2010/11 are provisional and subject to change; final figures will be published in November 2011.
	
		
			  Table 1: Students awarded student loans or grants who were living in Suffolk local authority when they applied for financial support 
			   Academic years 
			  Type of financial support  2008/09  2009/10  2010/11( 1) 
			 Loans(2) 10,100 11,100 11,000 
			 Grants and Allowances(3) 6,200 6,600 6,000 
			 (1) Provisional. (2) This includes maintenance and tuition fee loans (3) This includes Higher Education grants, Special Support grants, Maintenance grants, Tuition Fee grants, Disabled Student allowances, Travel grants, Childcare grants, Dependants grants, Parental Learning allowances and Adult Dependant grants.  Source: Student Loans Company

Students: Finance

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the Access to Learning Fund; and if he will make a statement.

David Willetts: The Access to Learning Fund (ALF) is a discretionary fund that provides additional support for higher education students facing financial hardship. The Government have provided an ALF budget of £40 million for academic year 2010/11. ALF is administered by individual higher education institutions and further education colleges who make their own decisions about how best to target their allocation, taking into account their student population and their knowledge of local circumstances. In the academic year 2009-10 (the most recent year for which we have data) the ALF was used to help around 89,000 full or part-time students.

Summertime

Mike Freer: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills whether he has assessed the likely effect on faith communities of proposed changes to daylight saving hours.

Edward Davey: The Government are aware of a range of arguments regarding the effect of moving the clocks forward by one hour on families including faith communities. As the Prime Minister has made clear the Government could not support any change in this area unless there was consensus throughout the UK.

TRANSPORT

Air Travel Trust Fund

Paul Maynard: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he expects the Air Travel Trust Fund to next report a surplus.

Theresa Villiers: The Air Travel Trust Fund meets the cost of refunds and repatriation arising from the insolvency of travel companies which are covered by the Air Travel Organisers License (ATOL) scheme. The deficit of the Fund was reported as £31.8m in the Funds' annual accounts for the year ending 31 March 2010.
	One of the objectives of the reforms to the ATOL scheme, which I announced to the House on 3 February 2011, is to reduce the Fund's deficit and return it to financial sustainability. It is expected that the Fund will be in surplus within 3 years of the reforms being implemented. The precise timing depends on a number of factors, including the frequency and cost of travel company insolvencies.

ATOL Scheme

Paul Maynard: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what timescale he has set for the completion of reform of the ATOL scheme.

Theresa Villiers: On the 3 February 2011, I announced the Government's 'in principle' decision to reform the Air Travel Organisers' Licensing (ATOL) scheme. A public consultation on the details of the reform, including draft secondary legislation, is planned for spring 2011. Implementation of the new secondary legislation is aimed for late 2011 or early 2012. The Government is also considering the use of primary legislation to complete further ATOL reforms, although no decision on this has yet been taken.

ATOL Scheme

Paul Maynard: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether including click-through arrangements in the ATOL scheme would require primary legislation.

Theresa Villiers: On 3 February 2011, I announced to the House the Government's 'in principle' decision to reform the Air Travel Organisers' Licensing (ATOL) scheme to ensure consumers are protected in the changing holiday market. Subject to consultation, the intention is for the reforms to be implemented by new secondary legislation in late 2011 or early 2012.
	These reforms should mean that Flight Plus holidays organised by a 'click through arrangement' by travel agents or tour operators are protected under the ATOL scheme. The Government is currently considering the case for new primary legislation that would be needed to bring all holidays organised by 'click through arrangements', including those sold by airlines, into the ATOL scheme.

Aviation

Kwasi Kwarteng: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what recent representations he has received from the aviation industry on the effects of Government policy on that sector.

Theresa Villiers: The Secretary of State for Transport, the right hon. Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond), receives regular representations from a wide range of organisations on matters relating to Government aviation policy.
	We are committed to producing a sustainable framework for UK aviation which supports economic growth and addresses aviation's environmental impacts. During the policy development process, we will open a dialogue with a variety of stakeholders to seek their views and to draw on the expertise of those who best understand the benefits and impacts of aviation.

Aviation: Pilots

Steven Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what his policy is on the maximum amount of time airline pilots should be expected to fly in 24 hours.

Theresa Villiers: I refer the hon. Member to my answer of 28 February 2011,  Official Report, column 176, given to the hon. Member for North Down (Lady Hermon).

Aviation: Pilots

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what his policy is on the maximum amount of time airline pilots should be expected to fly in one day.

Theresa Villiers: I refer the hon. Member to my answer of 28 February 2011,  Official Report, column 176, given to the hon. Member for North Down (Lady Hermon).

Aviation: Security

James Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what plans he has to introduce a personnel advanced screening system at UK airports; and if he will make a statement.

Theresa Villiers: There are no plans to introduce a personnel advanced screening system at UK airports.
	One of the basic tenets of aviation security in the UK is that everyone entering the security restricted area of an airport, including staff, is subject to security screening. The Department specifies the standards that must be met, and the methods that may be used, by industry in respect of the screening of passengers and staff. All security measures are kept under review.

Aviation: Security

Stephen Lloyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what research his Department has  (a) undertaken and  (b) commissioned on the threat to airport and airline security from air crew.

Theresa Villiers: The Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre (JTAC) is responsible for assessing the threat to UK aviation interests from international terrorism. JTAC has assessed the full range of threats to civil aviation, but I cannot comment on individual assessments.
	When making their assessment of the risk of an attack, Department for Transport officials take into account information on threat vulnerabilities and potential impacts of attack.

Aviation: Security

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether he plans to bring forward proposals to enable UK airports to determine their own security procedures for air crew.

Theresa Villiers: I refer the hon. Member to my answer of 2 March 2011,  Official Report, column 460W, given to the hon. Member for Eastbourne (Stephen Lloyd).

Aviation: Working Hours

James Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the likely effects on safety of the European Aviation Safety Agency's plans to reform flight time limitations.

Stephen Lloyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the effects on the safety of UK air travel of the European Aviation Safety Agency's proposals for flight time limitations.

Theresa Villiers: I refer the hon. Members to my answer given to the hon. Member for Coventry South (Mr Cunningham) of 7 February 2011,  Official Report, column 51W.

Aviation: Working Hours

Mike Weatherley: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will assess any potential risk to UK air travel posed by the European Aviation Safety Agency's plans to reform flight time limitations.

Theresa Villiers: I refer the hon. Member to my answer of 17 February,  Official Report, column 966W.

Dartford-Thurrock Crossing: Finance

John Woodcock: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport 
	(1)  what capital expenditure his Department incurred on the Dartford Crossing in 2010-11; and what such expenditure it expects to incur in each of the next four financial years;
	(2)  what estimate he has made of the revenue generated by tolls at the Dartford Crossing in  (a) 2010-11 and  (b) each of the next four financial years.

Michael Penning: holding answer 28 February 2011
	Details of income and expenditure for the Dartford-Thurrock Crossing charging scheme are published annually, with accounts for the year to 31 March 2010 published on 31 January 2011. Accounts for 2010-11 will be published in due course.
	Copies of the 2009-10 accounts are available from the Library of the House and from the following link:
	http://www.official-documents.gov.uk/document/hc1011/hc07/0711/0711.asp
	The Department for Transport made clear in its spending review announcement that investment at Dartford is a priority, and that subject to consultation, it intends to increase the levels of road user charges in 2011 and 2012 to allow for future investment, including the implementation of free-flow charging technology, and to help fund proposals for a new, additional crossing.
	Detailed impacts of such investment on future revenue and capital expenditure will be set out as details of such measures are announced.

Dartford-Thurrock Crossing: Tolls

John Woodcock: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what estimate he has made of the effect on revenue generated of suspending tolls at the Dartford Crossing in periods of severe congestion.

Michael Penning: holding answer 28 February 2011
	The Highways Agency is developing an operational protocol to suspend the road user charges at the Dartford Crossing during emergency incidents or when congestion is particularly severe.
	The revenue implications from use of the protocol are dependent on the number of occasions where traffic conditions are such that charges are suspended, and the duration of charge suspension period.
	We aim to publish details and introduce the use of the protocol as soon as it is possible to do so this year.

Departmental Manpower

John Redwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many  (a) actual and  (b) full-time equivalent staff have left his Department's employ since May 2010.

Norman Baker: The central Department and its seven executive agencies identified the following number of  (a) actual and  (b) full-time equivalent staff to have left the Department's employ since May 2010. The total includes both permanent and non-permanent employees.
	 (a) The number of actual staff that have left the Department since May 2010 is 1,264 (453 of whom from the central Department).
	 (b) The number of full-time equivalent staff that have left the Department since May 2010 is 1,162 (439 of whom from the central Department).

Departmental Regulation

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many regulations sponsored by his Department have been  (a) introduced and  (b) revoked since 7 December 2010.

Michael Penning: The Department has introduced 19 regulations since 7 December 2010 and the full listing is listed here, correct to 23 February 2011. Of these 19, four revoked or replaced existing legislation.
	
		
			  DFT regulations introduced between 7 December 2010 and 23 February 2011 
			  Title  Reference number  In force 
			 The Bus Lane Contraventions (Approved Local Authorities) (England) (Amendment) (No. 2) and Civil Enforcement of Parking Contraventions Designation (No. 4) Order 2010 2010 No. 2790 31 December 2010 
			 The Severn Bridges Tolls Order 2010 2010 No. 3002 1 January 2011 
			 The Cornwall Council (Havle North Quay) Bridge Scheme 2010 Confirmation Instrument 2010 2010 No. 3032 6 January 2011 
			 The M1 Motorway (Junctions 10 to 13 Improvement Connecting Roads) Scheme 2010 2010 No. 2824 9 January 2011 
			 The Traffic Management (Northamptonshire County Council) Permit Scheme Order 2010 2010 No. 2823 10 January 2011 
			 The Merchant Shipping and Fishing Vessels (Health and Safety at Work) (Asbestos) Regulations 2010 2010 No. 2984 10 January 2011 
			 The Merchant Shipping and Fishing Vessels (Health and Safety at Work) (Artificial Optical Radiation) Regulations 2010 2010 No. 2987 10 January 2011 
			 The Motor Fuel (Composition and Content) and Merchant Shipping(Prevention of Air Pollution from Ships) (Amendment) Regulations 2010 2010 No. 3035 14 January 2011 
			 The Fixed Penalty (Amendment) Order 2010 2010 No. 2720 1 February 2011 
			 The Road Safety (Financial Penalty Deposit) (Amendment) Order 2010 2010 No. 2721 1 February 2011 
			 The Road Safety (Financial Penalty Deposit) (Appropriate Amount) (Amendment) Order 2010 2010 No. 3016 1 February 2011 
			 The River Mersey (Mersey Gateway Bridge) Order 2011 2011 No. 41 1 February 2011 
			 The Shrewsbury (Kingsland) Bridge (Revision of Tolls) Order 2011 2011 No. 71 1 February 2011 
			 The Motor Vehicles (Insurance Requirements) Regulations 2011 2011 No.20 4 February 2011 
			 The Road Safety Act 2006 (Commencement No. 6) Order 2011 2011 No. 19 4 February 2011 
			 The Rail Vehicle Accessibility (Non-Interoperable Rail System) (London Underground Metropolitan Line S8 Vehicles) Exemption Order 2011 2011 No. 70 14 February 2011 
			 The Cobham Motorway Service Area Trunk Road Order 2011 2011 No. 247 23 February 2011 
			 The M25 Motorway (Cobham Motorway Service Area Temporary Special Road) Scheme 2011 2011 No. 248 23 February 2011 
			 The Cobham Motorway Service Area Trunk Road (Connecting Roads) Order 2011 2011 No. 249 23 February 2011

Driving Standards Agency

Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what effect the outcome of the comprehensive spending review will have on the review of the Driving Standards Agency; and if he will make a statement.

Michael Penning: The Driving Standards Agency (DSA) is a trading fund and recovers most of its costs through user charges for its services, such as the driving test.
	DSA sometimes receives loans from Department for Transport to undertake specific activities and receives funding for the prevention of fraud, both of which are reviewed on an annual basis.
	There has not yet been any direct effect on the Agency from the comprehensive spending review.

Great Western Railway: Electrification

Kevin Brennan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he expects to announce plans for the electrification of the main railway line into Wales.

Theresa Villiers: holding answer 3 March 2011
	On 1 March, the Secretary of State for Transport, my right hon. Friend, announced plans for electrification of the Great Western Main Line to Bristol and Cardiff and the delivery of a new fleet of intercity trains.
	I expect passengers from South Wales to enjoy the benefits of this significant investment from 2016 onwards with the full service from the end of 2017.

Great Western Railway: Electrification

Owen Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will publish the full business case on which he based his decision to extend the electrification of the Great Western Line from Didcot to Cardiff, including  (a) the case for extension to Swansea and  (b) the case for electrification between Bath and Bristol.

Theresa Villiers: I am prepared to deposit, in the Library of the House, details of the business case work which assisted the Department for Transport in determining the further extension of electrification of the Great Western Main Line. Other factors, including affordability and operational aspects, have also been considered as part of the decision making process.

London and Southeastern Railway: Cancellations

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Bexleyheath and Crayford of 14 February 2011,  Official Report, columns 638-40W, on Southeastern, how many rail services operated by Southeastern have been cancelled in each month of the current franchise agreement.

Theresa Villiers: holding answer 2 March 2011
	The requested information is available only for the four week rail industry reporting periods, and is as follows:
	
		
			  Southeastern cancellations 
			  Reporting period  Trains cancelled 
			 April 2006 368 
			 April to May 2006 409 
			 May to June 2006 398 
			 June to July 2006 370 
			 July to August 2006 257 
			 August to September 2006 206 
			 September to October 2006 333 
			 October to November 2006 336 
			 November to December 2006 488 
			 December to January 2007 330 
			 January to February 2007 763 
			 February to March 2007 421 
			 March 2007 548 
			 April 2007 722 
			 April to May 2007 855 
			 May to June 2007 158 
			 June to July 2007 263 
			 July to August 2007 309 
			 August to September 2007 181 
			 September to October 2007 380 
			 October to November 2007 430 
			 November to December 2007 363 
			 December to January 2008 384 
			 January to February 2008 428 
			 February to March 2008 298 
			 March 2008 331 
			 April 2008 434 
			 April to May 2008 419 
			 May to June 2008 275 
			 June to July 2008 420 
			 July to August 2008 307 
			 August to September 2008 335 
			 September to October 2008 391 
			 October to November 2008 376 
			 November to December 2008 480 
			 December to January 2009 320 
			 January to February 2009 510 
			 February to March 2009 2,489 
			 March 2009 570 
			 April to May 2009 276 
			 May 2009 285 
			 May to June 2009 282 
			 June to July 2009 368 
			 July to August 2009 264 
			 August to September 2009 229 
			 September to October 2009 365 
			 October to November 2009 497 
			 November to December 2009 550 
			 December to January 2010 3,643 
			 January to February 2010 1,308 
			 February to March 2010 1,154 
			 March 2010 432 
			 April to May 2010 380 
			 May 2010 536 
			 May to June 2010 532 
			 June to July 2010 563 
			 July to August 2010 374 
			 August to September 2010 458 
			 September to October 2010 832 
			 October to November 2010 333 
			 November to December 2010 1,071 
			 December to January 2011 1,099 
			  Note:  Period 10 2010-11 (12 December 2010 to 9 January 2011) is the latest data available. There are 13 rail periods in a year, usually four weeks in length.

Railway Stations: Public Service Announcements

Bill Esterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport which public service announcements are required at railway stations.

Theresa Villiers: holding answer 4 March 2011
	There is a requirement for public security announcements to be made at rail stations as part of the National Rail Security Programme. Under this programme, announcements are set at a level proportionate to the prevailing threat and vulnerability, and are kept under constant review.
	The Department for Transport's code of practice 'Accessible Train Station Design for Disabled People, Version 2', issued in September 2010, sets out various requirements concerning the making of announcements. The number of announcements made will vary depending on the level of service at any given station.

Railways: Construction

Christopher Pincher: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the likely frequency of replacement of track sections on High Speed Two.

Philip Hammond: I refer my hon. Friend to the Infrastructure Maintenance Strategy section of the Technical Appendix, available at:
	http://www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/rail/pi/highspeedrail/hs2ltd/

Railways: Fares

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what estimate he has made of the revenue to accrue to  (a) train operating companies and  (b) his Department attributable to the increase in rail fares by the retail prices index in the next four financial years.

Theresa Villiers: The retail prices index is part of the ongoing formula for capping rail fares and is taken into account automatically in the levels of premia/subsidy through the franchise agreements with each train operator. Separately, the Government are about to engage with the industry in negotiations on the effect on subsidy/premia of the change in the cap on regulated fares from RPI+1 to RPI+3 for the three years from Jan 2012 to Jan 2014. It would prejudice these discussions to make further details public.

Sea Rescue

Eilidh Whiteford: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what private finance initiative contracts exist in respect of coastguard services in Scotland; and what the monetary value is of such contracts.

Michael Penning: No private finance initiative contracts exist in respect of coastguard services in Scotland.

Shipping

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the registered tonnage of the merchant fleet under the UK flag was on the most recent date for which figures are available; and what the average tonnage per ship of the UK Flag Registry is.

Michael Penning: As of 28 February 2011, the registered tonnage of UK registered merchant ships 100 gross tons (GT) and over was 17,030,315 GT.
	There were 1,489 ships giving an average tonnage per ship of 11,437 GT.

Shipping and Aviation: Carbon Emissions

Nicola Blackwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what steps he is taking to reduce carbon dioxide emissions attributable to (a) shipping and (b) aviation.

Norman Baker: The Government recognises the importance of addressing CO2 emissions from shipping and aviation and we are taking a broad range of measures to reduce these.
	The Government is playing an active role in the International Maritime Organisation's work on technical, operational and market based measures to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from shipping on a global basis, and has submitted a proposal for an emissions trading system to cap shipping emissions in an efficient and cost-effective way. The UK is also working with the European Commission and other Member States to develop a proposal for effective regional action in the event that no international measure has been agreed by the end of 2011.
	Since coming to power, the Government has cancelled plans for a third runway at Heathrow and has made clear that it will refuse permission for additional runways at Gatwick and Stansted. The Government has also stated its intention to create a sustainable framework for aviation in the UK, which supports economic growth and addresses aviation's environmental impacts. The Government will issue a scoping document in March 2011 setting out strategic directions on aviation policy.
	In the meantime, at a European level the UK is fully on-track to implement the Aviation EU Emissions Trading System from the beginning of 2012, and continues to push internationally for more ambitious global action through the International Civil Aviation Organisation.

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

Bermuda

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what plans he has to visit Bermuda.

Henry Bellingham: The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Richmond (Yorks) (Mr Hague), has no immediate plans to visit Bermuda. However, I hope to visit Bermuda later this year.

Brighton

Simon Kirby: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will bring forward proposals to relocate  (a) staff and  (b) offices of his Department to Brighton; and if he will make a statement.

Alistair Burt: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has no plans to relocate staff or offices to Brighton. Like other Departments we liaise closely with the Government Property Unit to determine the level of operational demand for working space in the UK, and to ensure value for money.

Cote d'Ivoire: British Nationals Abroad

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions he has had with ministerial colleagues on the safety of British nationals resident in Cote d'Ivoire.

Henry Bellingham: We advise against all travel to Cote d'Ivoire. British nationals have since December 2010 been advised to leave the country by commercial means if it is safe to do so. Our Political Counsellor in Abidjan is in close contact through the consular warden network with those British nationals who have not heeded this advice. This conduit allows us to communicate updates on the security situation and any further changes to our travel advice.
	We continue to liaise with colleagues in other Departments and international partners to ensure that our information is accurate and our contingency plans are up to date. The safety of British nationals in Cote d'Ivoire is our foremost priority.

Departmental Disciplinary Proceedings

Ben Wallace: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Witham of 27 October 2010,  Official Report, columns 339-40W, on departmental disciplinary proceedings, how many UK-based officials working in  (a) the UK and  (b) overseas posts were dismissed on disciplinary grounds in the last five years; and what the overseas post was in each case.

Alistair Burt: There were fewer than five dismissals in total, on disciplinary grounds, in each of the last five years for UK-based Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) staff working in both the UK and at our overseas posts. For reasons of confidentiality, and to avoid the possibility of revealing the identities of individual staff, the FCO, in line with Cabinet Office guidance, does not disclose more detailed information when overall numbers amount to fewer than five.

Egypt

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what official visits Ministers from his Department have made to Egypt since 1997; and for what purpose.

Alistair Burt: Previous visits to Egypt by Foreign and Commonwealth Office Ministers since 1997 include:
	Lord Green, February 2011 as part of the recent delegation led by the Prime Minister
	The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (Mr Hague), November 2010
	The Member for Bury South (Mr Lewis), January 2010
	Bill Rammell (former Member for Harlow), May 2009
	Lord Malloch-Brown, November 2007, 30 June-1 July 2008 and November 2008
	The Member for South Shields (David Miliband), November 2007
	Ministers take part in regular meetings and overseas visits to discuss a range of matters with interlocutors.

Iran: Warships

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent reports he has received on the passage of Iranian warships through the Suez Canal; whether he has had discussions with his  (a) Egyptian and  (b) Israeli counterpart on this issue; and if he will make a statement. [R]

Alistair Burt: I am aware of the recent passage of Iranian navy vessels through the Suez Canal. Iran was trying to provoke a reaction through a symbolic but superficial act. But it knows, and others in the region recognise, that there are real limits to it's power and influence. We continue to discuss Iran with a wide range of international partners including Israel and Egypt.

Libya

Ian Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent assessment he has made of the quality of intelligence assessments by his Department relating to Libya.

Alistair Burt: The policy of successive governments has been not to comment on matters relating to intelligence or national security.

Libya: British Nationals Abroad

Douglas Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when his Department first discussed with the Ministry of Defence the provision of assistance for the evacuation of UK citizens from Libya.

William Hague: holding answer 3 March 2011
	 The Foreign and Commonwealth Office works closely with the Ministry of Defence on consular contingency planning. The two Departments have been in close and regular contact since the beginning of the crisis in Libya, including on the role of the Ministry of Defence in the provision of assistance for the evacuation of UK citizens from Libya.

Libya: British Nationals Abroad

Douglas Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when he first received information that commercial carriers were cancelling flights to and from Libya as a result of the recent unrest in that country.

William Hague: holding answer 3 March 2011
	 On 20 February, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) in London contacted British Airways who confirmed that they had no plans to suspend their scheduled services to Tripoli. Both sides agreed to stay in close contact, particularly should that change. In the evening of 21 February British Airways informed the FCO that they were now cancelling their flights to and from Libya, on safety and security grounds. BMI took the decision to suspend their scheduled service on the morning of 22 February, also on safety and security grounds, and promptly informed us, though at the time it was a decision taken a day at a time. Our embassy in Tripoli had also been in regular contact with both airlines on the ground. Tripoli airport remained open and operating with scheduled flights continuing on 22 February by a range of other airlines.

Libya: British Nationals Abroad

Douglas Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what aircraft have been used for each evacuation of British nationals from abroad in 2011.

William Hague: holding answer 3 March 2011
	 Since Monday 21 February the British Government have arranged 17 flights to help British Nationals leave Libya. Nine flights were organised by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, including three to provide onward travel to the UK, and one that had initially been chartered by BP. Eight were operated by the Ministry of Defence. A range of civil and military aircraft were used, including BAe 146s, Boeing 737s and C130s. In addition, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office assisted British nationals who wanted to leave Libya by facilitating commercial flights and arranging seats for British nationals on flights organised by other countries. Previously in 2011, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office had also chartered two flights to take British nationals out of Cairo, supplementing commercially available options.

Libya: British Nationals Abroad

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many  (a) British and  (b) non-British nationals have been evacuated from Libya on RAF aircraft to date.

Alistair Burt: I refer the hon. Member to my written ministerial statement of 3 March 2011,  Official Report, columns 35-36WS, on Libya: Consular Response in which I updated the House on the efforts the Foreign and Commonwealth Office has made to help British nationals depart Libya.

Libya: British Nationals Abroad

Douglas Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what the terms of reference are for his Department's review of aircraft evacuation procedures; how it will report; and by what date he expects it to report.

William Hague: holding answer 4 March 2011
	The Prime Minister and I have both told the House that there are lessons we will wish to learn from this evacuation. I have therefore commissioned a review, with the aim of examining the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO)'s arrangements for leading the evacuation of British nationals in a crisis. The review will consider the contingency arrangements that the FCO in London and all Posts have in place, and the triggers and procedures for moving to a crisis footing and mounting civilian and military evacuation operations.
	The review will consult widely across Government, with the airline industry, major multinationals with British staff in high risk locations, private security companies, the Association of British Travel Agencies and other key travel industry figures, the Red Cross and other emergency management organisations, and our international partners.
	The review will be completed and presented to FCO Ministers as soon as practically possible.

Libya: British Nationals Abroad

Douglas Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs on what date and at what time his Department first placed the order for the charter aircraft to evacuate British nationals from Libya which was subsequently delayed at Gatwick Airport.

William Hague: holding answer 4 March 2011
	The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) was in discussions with brokers throughout 21 February about charter options. I took the decision to authorise FCO charters at 10 pm that evening. The FCO then placed the order with the brokers and, following intense discussions, flight options were confirmed with them at 11.52 pm the same evening. The aircraft operator and FCO staff on the ground advised that landing permissions were taking up to 48 hours to process. This first charter flight was therefore arranged to depart from Gatwick airport at 9 am on 23 February. Despite strenuous efforts by the operator and by embassy staff on the ground, and like a number of other countries, we were unable to secure landing permission on 22 February. By mid-morning on 23 February, a few countries had taken the risk of flying to Tripoli without prior landing permission, seeking landing permission from the control tower instead. No sanctions had been taken against them. We therefore informed the operator and requested them to fly in on this basis. The operator agreed. However at this point it became apparent that the charter plane had developed a technical fault, preventing it from taking off. This fault was repaired as quickly as possible and the plane departed London Gatwick on the evening of 23 February.

Libya: British Nationals Abroad

Frank Roy: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what estimate he has made of the number of UK nationals evacuated from Tripoli on flights organised by other governments since 15 February 2011.

Alistair Burt: Our records show that other Governments, including those of other EU member states, have helped over 150 British nationals to leave Libya.

Libya: Foreign Nationals

Frank Roy: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many non-UK nationals have been evacuated from Tripoli on flights arranged by his Department since 15 February 2011.

Alistair Burt: Approximately 180 non-UK nationals have been evacuated from Tripoli on Foreign and Commonwealth Office chartered flights.

Members: Correspondence

David Winnick: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs 
	(1)  when he plans to reply to the letter of 1 February 2011 from the hon. Member for Walsall North on a constituent whose daughter is in Pakistan;
	(2)  what steps he plans to take to ensure that the hon. Member for Walsall North receives a reply to his letter of 1 February 2011 regarding a constituent whose daughter is in Pakistan, UKBA CTS reference: M2320/11.

David Lidington: The Minister for South Asia, my hon. Friend the Member for North East Bedfordshire (Alistair Burt), replied to the hon. Member for Walsall North's letter on 28 February 2011.

New Zealand: Earthquakes

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assistance has been provided to New Zealand following the recent earthquake in Christchurch.

Jeremy Browne: Officials from our high commission in Wellington, led by our high commissioner, were quickly deployed to Christchurch to liaise with the New Zealand authorities and provide consular assistance to British nationals. In response to a request from the New Zealand Government, we immediately sent a self-sufficient search and rescue team of 63 experts drawn from the British emergency fire and rescue services.
	In addition, the New Zealand Government have accepted our offer of support in the process of Disaster Victim Identification. A 10-man team, specially tailored to support the New Zealand authorities, is in Christchurch and providing essential support and expertise in helping to identify any potential British victims and bolster the New Zealand authorities in their wider identification process.

North Africa: British Nationals Abroad

Stephen Gilbert: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many British nationals were evacuated from  (a) Tunisia,  (b) Egypt and  (c) Libya by other EU member states during the recent political events in those countries; and if he will make a statement.

Alistair Burt: holding answer 4 March 2011
	 We co-operate closely with a range of international partners on consular crisis response. Our records show that other governments, including those of other EU member states, have helped over 150 British nationals to leave Libya. It is likely that additional British nationals were evacuated by their employers or our international partners without formal notification to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. British nationals left Egypt through a variety of different means, including flights organised by other nations.

North Africa: EU Nationals

Stephen Gilbert: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many non-British European citizens have been evacuated from  (a) Tunisia,  (b) Egypt and  (c) Libya using his Department's resources during the recent events in those countries; and if he will make a statement.

Alistair Burt: holding answer 4 March 2011
	 Our officials and armed forces have helped over 1,800 foreign nationals to leave Libya and Egypt. We did not mount an official evacuation from Tunisia. In the case of Egypt, the two charters organised by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) from Cairo also brought out a number of EU citizens. In the case of Libya, nearly 30 EU citizens were among those evacuated on the FCO chartered flights from Tripoli and approximately 200 further EU citizens were evacuated by UK military transport.

North Korea: South Korea

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps he plans to take in conjunction with his international counterparts to deal with the security situation between North Korea and South Korea.

Jeremy Browne: We regularly discuss the situation with both North and South Korea. The Prime Minister has been in close touch with President Lee Myung-bak of the Republic of Korea, and spoke to him following the attacks last year. In addition, senior Foreign and Commonwealth Office officials regularly meet North Korean counterparts to relay our message that North Korea faces increasing isolation unless they change course. We actively support a process which involves building trust and confidence between North and South Korea. We are monitoring the situation closely, and stand ready to help advance talks.

Pakistan: Religious Freedom

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make urgent representations to the government of Pakistan on the killing of the Minister responsible for religious minorities in that country and treatment of those who oppose blasphemy laws in that country.

Alistair Burt: The assassination of Shahbaz Bhatti was an appalling and cowardly act, striking at the heart of democracy and freedom of expression in Pakistan. The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my noble Friend Baroness Warsi and I have made public statements condemning his murder, and the Prime Minister has written to President Zardari to express his condolences and his support for the Government of Pakistan's effort to strengthen democracy. We continue to make clear the need to ensure that the blasphemy laws are not misused including against minorities. We continue to support the case for reform of those laws.

Sudan: British Nationals Abroad

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent assessment he has made of the risk to UK nationals in the Abyei region of Sudan.

Henry Bellingham: The increase in violence in Abyei over the last few days is very concerning. Our assessment of the security situation in Abyei had already led us to advise against all but essential travel to Abyei. There are currently very few UK nationals in Abyei and we ask all UK nationals visiting Sudan to register with our embassy via the Foreign and Commonwealth Office website. We will continue to monitor the situation closely.

Tunisia

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what the  (a) dates and  (b) purposes were of each visit to Tunisia by Ministers in his Department since 1997.

Alistair Burt: I visited Tunisia between 28 and 30 November 2010.
	Previous visits by Foreign and Commonwealth Ministers since 1997 include:
	My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary, February 2011
	Bill Rammell (former Member for Harlow), February 2009
	The right hon. Member for South Shields (David Miliband), February 2008
	The right hon. Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean, January 2005 and September 2003
	The right hon. Member for Neath (Mr Hain), April 2000
	Derek Fatchett (former Member for Leeds Central), May 1998.
	The purpose of my visit was to support UK objectives in a range of areas including the safety of British nationals travelling to Tunisia, trade, counter-terrorism, regional stability and political reform.

Turks and Caicos Islands

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many applications for permanent residence certificates the Turks and Caicos Islands Government has received in each of the last five years.

Henry Bellingham: The Immigration Department of the Turks and Caicos Islands is not able to provide accurate statistics for the number of applications for permanent residence certificates received over the past five years.
	The Turks and Caicos Islands Government is currently carrying out extensive reforms within the Immigration Department. This includes the work of registering and responding to applications received in the last five years, including those which were not dealt with under the previous administration.
	I understand that approximately 2,000 applications for permanent residence certificates were received between 2006 and 2010.

Turks and Caicos Islands

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs on what date he expects the embargo on new permanent residency applications in the Turks and Caicos Islands to be lifted.

Henry Bellingham: The Turks and Caicos Islands Government are currently carrying out extensive reforms within the Immigration Department. This includes the work of registering and responding to applications received in the last five years, including those which were not dealt with under the previous Administration.
	The Government understand that the Turks and Caicos Islands Government will shortly announce a timetable for lifting the moratorium and accepting new applications.

Yemen: British Nationals Abroad

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions he has had with ministerial colleagues on the safety of British nationals resident in Yemen.

Alistair Burt: I have spoken regularly with ministerial colleagues in the Department for International Development (DfID), the Ministry of Defence (MOD) and the Home Office on developing events in Yemen. We are watching events closely and urge an immediate halt to the violence.
	In consultation with DfID, MOD and Home Office, we will continue to work closely together to ensure the safety of British nationals in Yemen. We urge all British nationals in Yemen to ensure they maintain regular contact with our embassy in Sana'a.

Yemen: Foreign Policy

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what the Government's policy is on Yemen; and if he will make a statement.

Alistair Burt: holding answer 4 March 2011
	The Government, along with the international community, assess that the Government of Yemen needs to take urgent action to tackle its economic, security and political challenges. The Government support a comprehensive approach to helping Yemen overcome these challenges.
	Bilaterally, the Government are committed to a united, prosperous and stable Yemen. We are one of the largest bilateral donors to Yemen. Our aid programme aims to address the most immediate causes of poverty, conflict and instability, and to create a more favourable environment for sustained development, through projects which focus on support for basic service delivery, more accountable and responsive state institutions, and economic opportunity.
	Multilaterally, the UK takes a leading role in the Friends of Yemen, a group which co-ordinates the efforts of the international community to assist the Government of Yemen. The next meeting of the group is scheduled for 22-23 March in Riyadh. The meeting should assess progress against agreed objectives from the last meeting in September 2010 and to discuss certain key themes:
	Political inclusion through the process of the National Dialogue with a view to the holding of free and fair parliamentary elections;
	Clearly identified development objectives set out in a Development Plan for Poverty Reduction and supported by an appropriate funding mechanism;
	Action to address threats to internal security and resolve underlying political grievances.

WORK AND PENSIONS

Cold Weather Payments: Stockton on Tees

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people in the weather station area covering Stockton North constituency qualified for cold weather payment on the most recent date for which figures are available.

Steve Webb: The available information is given in the table.
	
		
			  Estimated number of benefit units that received at least one cold weather payment for weather stations linked to postcode districts in Stockton North constituency 
			  Weather station  2010-11 
			 Albemarle 148,600 
			 Linton on Ouse 85,600 
			 Loftus 56,100 
			  Notes: 1. The information provided is Management Information. Our preference is to answer all parliamentary questions using Official/National Statistics but in this case we only have Management Information available. It is not quality assured to the same extent as Official/National Statistics and there are some issues with the data, for example, figures given are estimates. Actuals are not available. Estimates for 2010-11 may be revised after the end of the cold weather payment season, but will still be estimates not actuals. 2. A cold weather payment is made to an eligible customer when the average temperature has been recorded as, or is forecast to be, 0°C or below over seven consecutive days at the weather station linked to the customer's postcode. (When the temperature criterion is met, the weather station is said to trigger.) 3. Each of the weather stations is linked both to an area within Stockton North constituency and also to an area outside Stockton North constituency. Estimated numbers given are for the weather station as a whole, not for the part of Stockton North constituency linked to the weather station. 4. If there is a further trigger for any of the weather stations this winter, that will not change the estimates of the number of benefit units that received at least one cold weather payment in 2010-11. 5. Cold weather payments are made to benefit units. A benefit unit can be a single person or a couple and can include children. 6. Some benefit units received more than one payment in a year. 7. Estimated numbers have been rounded to the nearest 100.  Sources: Postcode districts in the Stockton North constituency: analysis of National Statistics Postcode Directory. Postcode district to weather station links: Department for Work and Pensions records. Records of triggers and estimates of potential qualifiers by weather station: Department for Work and Pensions records.

Departmental Food

William Bain: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions when he expects his Department to meet the Government's commitment to source food that meets British or equivalent standards of production.

Chris Grayling: The Department has a private finance initiative contract with Telereal Trillium for the provision of fully fitted and serviced accommodation. This includes the provision of catering, which is delivered by Eurest, a subcontractor to Telereal Trillium.
	The majority of food sourced by the Department already meets the Government's commitment to source food that meets British or equivalent standards of production. The commitment has not been met in the sourcing of pork which, while meeting EU standards, does not meet British or equivalent standards as it attracts a price premium. The Government's commitment are subject to there being no overall increase in costs.

Disability Living Allowance

Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what recent discussions he has had with  (a) local authorities and  (b) managers of residential care homes on removal of the mobility component of disability living allowance for those in local authority-funded residential care homes; and if he will make a statement.

Maria Miller: In recent months, Ministers in the Department have met disabled people who are care home residents, their families and care home staff, as well as local authorities, disability organisations and other groups to discuss reform of disability living allowance, including reform of the mobility component.
	In addition, disabled people and their representatives have had an opportunity to put forward their views in a DLA reform consultation document, which received over 5,000 responses from individuals and 500 responses from organisations.
	We have taken account of the many representations we have had from disability organisations and other groups and are now reviewing mobility provision in care homes as part of our wider reform of DLA.

Disability Living Allowance

Guto Bebb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions when he expects to respond to his Department's consultation on the disability living allowance.

Maria Miller: The consultation on the reform of disability living allowance closed on 18 February. We received over 5,000 responses from individuals and over 500 from organisations. The Government plan to publish their response in the spring.

Disability: Mortgages

Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether an equality impact assessment was undertaken in respect of proposals to reduce the support for mortgage interest rate for people participating in the home ownership for people with long-term disabilities scheme.

Maria Miller: The change in the standard interest rate used to calculate support for mortgage interest applies to all customers who receive that help as part of their benefit.
	The Department has published an equality impact assessment on the change, and this has included an assessment of the impact on disabled customers, including those participating in the home ownership for people with long-term disabilities scheme.
	The document was published on the Department's website at:
	http://www.dwp.gov.uk/docs/support-for-mortgage-interest.pdf

Employment and Support Allowance: Medical Examinations

Sandra Osborne: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions for what reason medical evidence is not sought from the GP of a claimant of employment and support allowance as part of the work capability assessment.

Maria Miller: Initial claims to employment and support allowance must be supported by appropriate evidence which is usually in the form of a fit note provided by the claimant's GP. In addition to this, processes are in place to ensure that further medical evidence may be requested from GPs when it is likely to help provide advice on benefit entitlement. Any evidence provided by a customer's GP or consultant is very important and will be fully considered.

Employment: Young People

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  what steps he plans to take to increase youth employment;
	(2)  if his Department will bring forward proposals for a successor scheme to replace the Youth Guarantee from April 2011.

Chris Grayling: The Government do not intend to introduce a successor scheme to replace the Young Person's Guarantee, but are determined to deal with the legacy of youth unemployment.
	From summer 2011 the Work Programme will offer a flexible, personalised programme built around the needs of individuals, including young people. Jobseekers aged 18 to 24 will access the Work Programme after nine months of unemployment. Those young people with the most serious barriers to employment will access the programme from three months into their claim.
	In addition to this, from April Jobcentre Plus advisers will have more discretion to work with young people to help them make the move into employment, and will be given greater freedom to determine what support will be provided to meet both customer and labour market need. This might include, for example, work experience, volunteering, an apprenticeship, a further education course or other training.

Funeral Payments

Iain Stewart: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will review his Department's public literature on funeral payments to ensure that the information it contains is accurate, concise but comprehensive and readily understood.

Steve Webb: The Department's public literature is reviewed regularly to ensure that it meets the required standard for both usability and comprehension.
	Officials have recently reviewed the Department's literature on funeral payments for policy clarity and some minor amendments have been made to the funeral payment claim form SF200 which will be implemented in April 2011. The Department's leaflets will also be reviewed by September 2011.

Incapacity Benefit

Gemma Doyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of the cost of assessing and reassessing claimants' incapacity benefits through the work capability assessment in the latest period for which figures are available.

Chris Grayling: A full appraisal of the expected costs and benefits of the reassessment of incapacity benefit claims was made in 2010 and is detailed in the "Impact Assessment of Employment and Support Allowance (Transitional Provisions, Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit) (Existing Awards) Regulations 2010".
	Page 9 onwards of this document detailed the expected costs and benefits. All costs and benefits are presented as Net Present Values in 2009-10 prices, and include costs and benefits occurring between 2009-10 and 2013-14. The economic impact of the policy (Net Present Value) is £1,000 million (excluding one-off costs). Positive number represents benefits. This impact assessment covers just the impact of migration cases and not all ESA cases going forward.

Jobcentre Plus

Stephen Lloyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people in each region were referred for job training by Jobcentre Plus to a training provider in the last 12 months for which figures are available; and what proportion this represented of the number of those on jobseeker's allowance in each region.

Chris Grayling: The information requested is as follows:
	
		
			  Number of referrals to contracted employment provision from April 2009 to March 2010 by region and the number of individuals who had an active claim for jobseeker's allowance at any point between April 2009 and March 2010 
			  Region  Referrals  Starts  JSA active claims  Referrals v Individuals (%)  Starts v Individuals (%) 
			 East Midlands 83,634 51,880 260,691 32 20 
			 East of England 70,410 29,744 291,920 24 10 
			 London 165,506 100,564 500,136 33 20 
			 North East 86,313 52,657 190,409 45 28 
			 North West 149,098 89,064 454,992 33 20 
			 Office for Scotland 62,353 43,088 323,458 19 13 
			 Office for Wales 54,602 35,852 184,334 30 19 
			 South East 74,414 42,601 391,783 19 11 
			 South West 81,336 41,640 246,582 33 17 
			 West Midlands 119,448 70,998 382,528 31 19 
			 Yorkshire and Humberside 109,951 60,384 350,282 31 17 
			  1,057,065 618,472 3,577,115 30 17

Jobcentre Plus: Glasgow

William Bain: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  what assessment he has made of the likely change in the level of provision of Jobcentre Plus in  (a) Glasgow,  (b) Scotland and  (c) the United Kingdom in each of the next four financial years;
	(2)  whether he has set an objective for the level of efficiency savings to be achieved by the Jobcentre Plus network in  (a) Glasgow,  (b) Scotland and  (c) the UK in each of the next four financial years.

Chris Grayling: As the administration of Jobcentre Plus is a matter for the chief executive of Jobcentre Plus, Darra Singh. I have asked him to provide the hon. Member with the information requested.
	 Letter from Darra Singh:
	The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your questions asking what assessment has been made of the likely change in the level of provision of Jobcentre Plus in (a) Glasgow, (b) Scotland and (c) the United Kingdom in each of the next four financial years; and whether an objective has been set for the level of efficiency savings to be achieved by the Jobcentre Plus network in (a) Glasgow, (b) Scotland and (c) the UK in each of the next four financial years.
	This is something which falls within the responsibilities delegated to me as Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus.
	By way of clarification, Jobcentre Plus does not provide services in Northern Ireland, therefore data is not available for the whole of the UK, but for Great Britain (GB) only. For this answer, GB is defined as England, Scotland and Wales.
	Our financial plans for the next four years are at an early stage and are still being refined. Whilst we can provide information about the position at the GB level for Jobcentre Plus, we have not yet set efficiency targets below this level (i.e. for Scotland or Glasgow) for 2011/12.
	The Spending Review, 2010 announced that DWP would deliver 26% savings in real terms from its core budget over the four year period to 2015. Jobcentre Plus will contribute to achieving this level of savings.
	In 2011/12, we will do this by working more efficiently. For example, we will make much more use of our online services (e.g. Jobseeker's Allowance (JSA) online). We are implementing ideas from our staff to make improvements in our processes and help improve productivity. We will also make savings in our back office and support functions. In our jobcentres, we will enable our personal advisers to work more flexibly to provide personalised support to customers and we will work more closely with external providers under the new Work Programme.
	To help achieve the level of efficiencies required, we will be reviewing our Jobcentre network as part of an overall service delivery plan. We will look at which locations we will deliver services from and how best to do so, working with other local services such as councils, credit unions, and training providers to join up our services better and share premises where possible. In some cities, we have a number of jobcentres close to each other and it is sensible to look at opportunities to reduce our costs here. We are also reviewing our network of Contact Centres and Benefit Centres
	Once we have developed our plans, including Equality Impact Assessments, we will share these with local stakeholders, including MPs, as part of our normal consultation arrangements for service delivery, before any decision is taken.
	Jobcentre Plus expects its jobcentre network to remain one of the largest in government, with services still delivered in many small and rural towns as well as major cities.

Jobseeker's Allowance and Travel Concessions

Teresa Pearce: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  what information he holds on schemes which allow those on jobseeker's allowance to access discounted bus, train or tram fares;
	(2)  if he will bring forward proposals for a national scheme to enable those on jobseeker's allowance to receive discounted public transport fares.

Chris Grayling: The administration of Jobcentre Plus is a matter for the chief executive of Jobcentre Plus, Darra Singh. I have asked him to provide the hon. Member with the information requested.

Jobseeker's Allowance: Airdrie

Pamela Nash: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many and what proportion of the working age population of Airdrie and Shotts constituency is in receipt of jobseeker's allowance.

Nick Hurd: I have been asked to reply.
	The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.
	 Letter from Stephen Penneck, dated March 2011:
	As Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question asking how many and what proportion of the working age population of Airdrie and Shorts constituency are in receipt of jobseeker's allowance. (044841)
	Since August 2010 labour market statistics are no longer based on a working age definition. These statistics are now based on people aged 16-64 years.
	The Office for National Statistics (ONS) compiles the number of claimants of Jobseeker's Allowance (JSA) from the Jobcentre Plus administrative system.
	For January 2011 the number of people aged 16-64 years resident in Airdrie and Shotts constituency claiming JSA is 3,311 and the proportion is 6.0 per cent.
	National and local area estimates for many labour market statistics, including employment, unemployment and claimant count are available on the NOMIS website at:
	http://www.nomisweb.co.uk

Jobseeker's Allowance: Coventry

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many 16 to 24 year olds in Coventry claimed jobseeker's allowance in each of the last three years for which figures are available.

Chris Grayling: The information requested is in the following table.
	
		
			  Jobseeker's allowance claimants aged 16-24 years in Coventry local authority area: January 2008 to January 2011 
			   Number 
			  2008  
			 January 1,890 
			 February 1,990 
			 March 2,105 
			 April 2,080 
			 May 2,125 
			 June 2,110 
			 July 2,220 
			 August 2,270 
			 September 2,245 
			 October 2,120 
			 November 2,250 
			 December 2,470 
			   
			  2009  
			 January 2,705 
			 February 3,055 
			 March 3,185 
			 April 3,270 
			 May 3,320 
			 June 3,255 
			 July 3,350 
			 August 3,360 
			 September 3,530 
			 October 3,465 
			 November 3,270 
			 December 3,285 
			   
			  2010  
			 January 3,410 
			 February 3,470 
			 March 3,320 
			 April 3,125 
			 May 3,025 
			 June 2,890 
			 July 2,815 
			 August 2,860 
			 September 2,860 
			 October 2,805 
			 November 2,695 
			 December 2,700 
			   
			  2011  
			 January 2,835 
			  Notes: 1. Caseload data are rounded to the nearest five. 2. Data are published at: https://www.nomisweb.co.uk  Source: Count of unemployment-related benefits, Jobcentre Plus computer systems (computer held cases only).

Maternity Payments

Graeme Morrice: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  how many families in the Jobcentre Plus Social Fund budget areas covering Livingston constituency received the Sure Start maternity grant in 2009-10; and what the total monetary value was of such grants;
	(2)  what estimate he has made of the number of low income families having a second or subsequent baby in the Jobcentre Plus Social Fund budget areas covering Livingston constituency who will not be eligible for the Sure Start maternity grant from 1 April 2011.

Steve Webb: The Jobcentre Plus Social Fund budget area covering Livingston constituency is Springburn Benefit Delivery Centre. In 2009-10, the number of Sure Start maternity grant awards made in Springburn Benefit Delivery Centre was 13,200 with a total monetary value of £6.7 million.
	The number of awards made for a second or subsequent maternity in 2009-10 in Springburn Benefit Delivery Centre is estimated to be 52% of all awards, namely 6,900.
	 Notes:
	1. The information provided is Management Information. Our preference is to answer all parliamentary questions using Official/National Statistics but in this case we only have Management Information available. It is not quality assured to the same extent as Official/National Statistics and there are some issues with the data, for example, the number of awards does not include awards processed clerically which had not been entered on to the Social Fund Computer System by the end of 2009-10.
	2. The average award size is greater than £500 (the award for one baby) because of multiple births.
	3. Both numbers have been rounded to the nearest 100.
	4. The changes will take place from 11 April.
	 Sources:
	1. Department for Work and Pensions Social Fund Policy, Budget and Management Information System (for total number of awards in Springburn Benefit Delivery Centre and monetary values).
	2. The estimate of 52% was obtained by analysing families in Great Britain with a child (or children) aged under one from the Department for Work and Pensions Income Support and Jobseeker's Allowance Quarterly Statistical Enquiries for August 2009. (This was considered the most appropriate available data at the time the analysis was done.)

Older People: Concessions

Rachel Reeves: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many (a) women and (b) men aged 65 years received (i) free bus travel, (ii) free prescriptions and (iii) winter fuel payments in the latest period for which figures are available.

Steve Webb: The information requested is not available. Such information as is available is as follows:
	(i) The Department for Transport does not maintain figures regarding the number of older people receiving free bus travel. However, the National Travel Survey 2009 estimates that 76% of eligible people (older and disabled) take up the bus pass. According to the Office for National Statistics at the mid-point of 2009, there were 4.7 million women and 3.7 million men aged 65 and over living in England and this indicates that 8.4 million people aged 65 and over living in England are eligible to free off-peak bus travel.
	(ii) The Department of Health does not collect the information requested on prescription charge exemptions.
	(iii) In winter 2009-10, the latest year for which information is available, 308,290 women and 307,170 men aged 65 years received a winter fuel payment (figures are rounded to the nearest 10).

Older People: Concessions

Rachel Reeves: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the average monetary value of (a) free bus travel, (b) free prescriptions and (c) winter fuel payments to a (i) woman and (ii) man aged 65 years in the latest period for which figures are available.

Steve Webb: The information requested is not available. Such information as is available is as follows:
	(a) There is around £1 billion a year spent on concessionary travel. The monetary value to each person issued a concessionary travel bus pass could be estimated to be, on average, approximately £100 per annum.
	(b) The Department of Health does not collect the information requested on prescription charge exemptions.
	(c) For winter 2010-11 most women and men aged 65 years will receive a winter fuel payment of up to £250 depending on their household circumstances. Some eligible people who live with another qualifying individual will receive the winter fuel payment at the shared rate of £125. This includes the temporary increase of £50 for winter 2010-11.

Pension Service: Post Offices

Kate Hoey: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what recent discussions he has had with Post Office Ltd on piloting a document verification service for the Pension Service.

Steve Webb: As set out in the Government policy statement "Securing the Post Office Network in the Digital Age" published on 9 November 2010, the Pensions Disability and Carers Service have been working closely with the post office on plans to pilot a new document verification service for pensions customers. Plans are advancing and I expect the initial pilot to be up and running in the spring.

Pensioners: Poverty

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many pensioners have been lifted out of poverty in (a) Coventry South constituency and (b) the UK since 1997.

Steve Webb: The most commonly used measure of pensioner poverty relates to those with incomes below 60% of contemporary median income, After housing costs. Estimates of the number of pensioners who have been lifted out of poverty are not available, as each year different households are surveyed to produce low income statistics that are published in the Households Below Average Income series. However, information is available about the net change in the number of pensioners with incomes below 60% of contemporary median income.
	(a) Pensioners in Coventry  South constituency
	The Households Below Average Income figures only allow a breakdown of the overall numbers in poverty at Government office region level. Therefore, information is available for the west midlands Government office region, but not available for the Coventry South constituency. Three-year averages are used to report regional statistics as single-year estimates are subject to volatility. Figures are rounded to the nearest 100,000 and percentages to the nearest whole percentage point.
	In the three-year period 1997-98 to 1999-2000 there were around 300,000 pensioners in the west midlands with incomes below the 60% contemporary median (equivalent to 28% of pensioners in the region). The latest information relates to the period 2006-07 to 2008-09 in which there were around 200,000 pensioners in poverty (16%).
	Between the periods 1997-98 to 1999-2000 and 2006-07 to 2008-09, there has been a reduction of around 100,000 pensioners in the west midlands Government office region with incomes below 60% of the contemporary median income. This equates to a 12 percentage point reduction in pensioner poverty.
	(b) Pensioners in the UK
	At a national level, we do not need to use the three-year averages and can use the individual yearly figures. However, figures for 1997-98 cover Great Britain only, as Northern Ireland data did not become available until the following year.
	In 1998-99 there were around 2.9 million pensioners in poverty in the UK, which equates to around 29% of all pensioners. The 2008-09 UK figures show that around 1.8 million pensioners were in poverty, equating to 16%.
	Between 1998-99 and 2008-09 the number of pensioners in the UK with incomes below 60% of the contemporary median income reduced by 1.1 million.

Pensioners: Poverty

Gareth Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate his Department has made of the number of pensioners living in poverty in Dartford constituency in each of the last five years.

Steve Webb: The most commonly used measure of poverty relates to those with incomes below 60% of contemporary median income, after housing costs.
	Estimates of poverty, published in the households below average income series, only allow a breakdown of the overall numbers in poverty at Government Office Region level. Therefore, information is available for the South East of England Government Office Region, but not available for the constituency of Dartford.
	Three-year averages are used to report regional statistics as single-year estimates are subject to volatility. Numbers of pensioners are quoted to the nearest 100,000 and percentages are quoted to the nearest whole percentage point.
	The following table shows the number and percentage of pensioners living in households in the South East of England with incomes below 60% of contemporary median income, after housing costs, for time periods that cover the last five years.
	
		
			 Three year period Number of pensioners (million) Percentage of pensioners 
			 2004-05 to 2006-07 0.2 16 
			 2005-06 to 2007-08 0.2 16 
			 2006-07 to 2008-09 0.2 16 
			 Notes: 1. These statistics are based on households below average income (HBAI) data sourced from the Family Resources Survey (FRS). This uses disposable household income, adjusted using modified OECD equalisation factors for household size and composition, as an income measure as a proxy for standard of living. 2. All estimates are based on survey data and are therefore subject to uncertainty. Small differences should be treated with caution as these will be affected by sampling error and variability in non-response. 3. The reference period for households below average income figures are single financial years. Three survey years have been combined as regional single year estimates are subject to volatility. 4. Numbers of people in low-income households have been rounded to the nearest 100,000, while proportions have been rounded to the nearest percentage point. 5. Disposable incomes have been used to answer the question. This includes earnings from employment and self-employment, state support, income from occupational and private pensions, investment income and other sources. Income tax, payments, national insurance contributions, council tax/domestic rates and some other payments are deducted from incomes. 6. The household level poverty threshold is defined as the 60% of median equivalised disposable household income.

Pensions

Nick Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what progress he has made on proposals for a single flat-rate pension.

Steve Webb: The Government are currently looking at options for simplifying the state pension system—no decisions have yet been made.

Post Office Card Account

Kate Hoey: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions with reference to the Coalition agreement, page 13, what steps he has taken to implement the proposal to ensure that direct debit discounts are available to Post Office Card Account holders.

Steve Webb: We are awaiting the outcome of new research exploring the options for all consumers to have the opportunity to benefit from direct debit discounts.
	Officials from all interested Departments are working closely to steer the direction of the research, which will explore the possibilities for a commercially viable business model for a new account, which would be designed to meet the needs of low-income consumers by supporting positive financial management, smoothing expenditure and enabling access to better value services and products.

Remploy

Chris Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what discussions his Department has had with trade unions representing Remploy employees on the future of the company.

Maria Miller: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 26 January 2011, Official Report, column 389W.

Remploy: Voluntary Redundancy

Chris Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many employees of Remploy took voluntary redundancy in the last 10 years.

Maria Miller: The number of people who have taken voluntary redundancy in the last 10 full financial years is contained in the following table:
	
		
			  Number 
			 2000-01 211 
			 2001-02 14 
			 2002-03 33 
			 2003-04 11 
			 2004-05 7 
			 2005-06 4 
			 2006-07 3 
			 2007-08 1,346 
			 2008-09 452 
			 2009-10 1 
			 Source:  Remploy.

Social Fund

Cathy Jamieson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what funding his Department has allocated to social fund (a) budgeting loans, (b) crisis loans and (c) communicare grants for each of the next three years.

Steve Webb: HM Treasury allocates funding for the social fund. The budget for the discretionary social fund is allocated annually and the details for 2011-12 will be announced in a written ministerial statement shortly.

Social Security Benefits

Rachel Reeves: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many and what proportion of (a) men and (b) women aged (i) 60, (ii) 61, (iii) 62, (iv) 63, (v) 64 and (vi) 65 years are in receipt of (A) guarantee credit, (B) housing benefit and (C) council tax benefit.

Steve Webb: In response to part (A), the gender and age caseloads of pension credit (guarantee credit) are as follows:
	
		
			 Table 1: Claimants of pension credit (guarantee credit) aged 60-65 in GB—May 2010 
			 Number of claimants 
			  All Males Females 
			 All aged 60-65 499,280 274,410 224,870 
			 60 64,950 34,780 30,170 
			 61 82,970 46,160 36,810 
			 62 92,500 52,420 40,080 
			 63 102,020 58,210 43,820 
			 64 85,140 48,520 36,620 
			 65 71,700 34,320 37,380 
			 Notes:  1. Caseload figures are rounded to the nearest ten; figures may not sum to totals due to rounding.  2. Figures include those in receipt of savings credit alongside guarantee credit.  3. Figures are for claimants only and exclude partners of recipients.  4. Populations of benefit units (households) by age are not available, and so proportions cannot be provided.  5. The age condition for eligibility for pension credit has increased alongside state pension age for females since April 2010 as part of the Equalisation of Pension Age.  Source:  DWP Information Directorate: Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study 100% data. 
		
	
	In response to parts (B) and (C), the gender and age caseloads of housing benefit and council tax benefit are as follows:
	
		
			 Table 2: Single claimants of housing benefit in GB—November 2010 
			  Female (single) Male (single) 
			 All 2,436,560 1,369,060 
			 60 24,350 22,370 
			 61 25,840 23,130 
			 62 27,240 24,290 
			 63 29,880 26,380 
			 64 27,300 23,490 
			 65 24,700 20,320 
			 Source:  Single Housing Benefit Extract (SHBE). 
		
	
	
		
			 Table 3: Couple claimants of housing benefit in GB—November 2010 
			  Number 
			 All 982,720 
			 60-64 80,210 
			 Source:  Single Housing Benefit Extract (SHBE). 
		
	
	
		
			 Table 4: Single claimants of council tax benefit in GB—November 2010 
			  Female (single) Male (single) 
			 All 2,925,090 1,414,750 
			 60 30,690 24,590 
			 61 33,670 26,300 
			 62 36,380 28,230 
			 63 41,000 31,740 
			 64 38,340 28,620 
			 65 35,730 24,210 
			 Source:  Single Housing Benefit Extract (SHBE). 
		
	
	
		
			 Table 5: Couple claimants of council tax benefit in GB—November 2010 
			  Number 
			 All 1,442,060 
			 60-64 146,910 
			 Notes:  1. The data refers to benefit units, which may be a single person or a couple.  2. The figures have been rounded to the nearest ten. Totals may not sum due to rounding. Proportions are rounded to one decimal place.  3. Housing benefit figures exclude any extended payment cases, An extended payment is a payment that may be received for a further four weeks when they start working full time, work more hours or earn more money.  4. Age groups are based on the age on the count date (second Thursday in the month). Age breakdowns are given for single recipients by single year of age. Age bands for couples are based on the age of the oldest person. Single year of age is not readily available.  5. SHBE is a monthly electronic scan of claimant level data direct from local authority computer systems. It replaces quarterly aggregate clerical returns. The data is available monthly from November 2008, and November 2010 is the most recent available.  6. Housing benefit and council tax benefit are both household benefits. Populations of households by age are not available, and therefore proportions cannot be calculated.  Source:  Single Housing Benefit Extract (SHBE).

Social Security Benefits: Fraud

David Blunkett: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many cases of suspected fraud were reported to the National Benefit Fraud hotline in 2009-10; how many such cases (a) were referred to the Fraud Investigation Service and (b) resulted in a (i) prosecution and (ii) conviction with a custodial sentence.

Chris Grayling: Every call to the National Benefit Fraud Hotline is examined by the Department. Where there is enough evidence to indicate potential benefit
	fraud the case is passed to either the Fraud Investigation Service for further investigation or to our customer compliance teams in Jobcentre Plus who will scrutinise the relevant benefit claim and make adjustments to entitlements as necessary.
	In 2009-10, 253,708 cases of suspected benefit fraud were reported to the National Benefit Fraud Hotline of which 46,258 were referred to the Fraud Investigation Service for further action.
	Information on the number of these reported fraud cases referred from the National Benefit Fraud Hotline that were prosecuted and convicted with a custodial sentence is not available. However, in 2009-10 8,198 cases were prosecuted for fraud against DWP benefits of which 7,040 received a criminal conviction. A total of 1,340 of these convictions resulted in a custodial sentence of which 929 were suspended.

Social Security Benefits: Medical Examinations

Sandra Osborne: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the average fee paid to ATOS for carrying out a work capability assessment was in the latest period for which figures are available.

Chris Grayling: Information relating to the average fee paid to Atos Healthcare for carrying out a work capability assessment is commercially sensitive and release of this information would prejudice the interests of Atos Healthcare and the Department’s future dealings with Atos Healthcare or other service providers.

Social Security Benefits: Payments

Kate Hoey: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions when he expects to announce the award of the contract for processing green giro payments.

Steve Webb: The Minister for Employment, my right hon. Friend the Minister of State (Chris Grayling) announced the outcome in a written ministerial statement on 3 March 2011, Official Report, column 43WS.

State Retirement Pensions

Rachel Reeves: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of the likely effects of the implementation of proposals to increase the state pension age on the average monetary value of (a) free prescriptions, (b) free bus travel and (c) winter fuel payments for a (i) woman and (ii) man currently aged 56 years over their lifetime.

Steve Webb: Under proposals current before Parliament, men and women aged 56 in 2011 will reach state pension age in 2021 rather than in 2020 as under current legislation. The age at which pensioner benefits can be received is already set to increase in line with the female state pension age. The information requested is not available. Such information as is available is as follows:
	(a) The Department of Health does not collect the information requested on prescription charge exemptions.
	(b) The Department for Transport does not hold information on the monetary value of free bus travel to eligible people over their lifetime. The changes in state pension age impact on the cost of providing the England-wide off-peak bus travel concession and
	the overall monetary effect is set out on page 15 of the Explanatory Memorandum to The Travel Concessions (Eligibility) England Order 2010 No. 459 which can be found at the following link:
	http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2010/459/pdfs/uksiem_20100459_en.pdf
	(c) The annual winter fuel payment estimated to be paid in winter 2020-21 to a man or woman, aged 56 in 2011 under the current legislation is £200. Where more than one qualifying person lives in the household, a shared rate of £100 would be payable.

State Retirement Pensions: Age

Eilidh Whiteford: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what (a) public awareness campaigns and (b) consultation his Department has undertaken for individuals affected by his plans to bring forward the increase in the pension age for women.

Steve Webb: The information requested is as follows:
	(a) We have placed information on Direct Gov and DWP websites. We plan to write to men and women born between 6 April 1953 and 5 April 1954 and men born between 6 December 1953 and 5 April 1954 who are affected by the proposed changes to bring forward the State Pension age to 66. Officials are considering how best to communicate with people born on or after 6 April 1954 so that they can plan for their retirement and are investigating a number of options. We will balance the need to communicate effectively with the need to ensure value for money to the taxpayer.
	(b) We announced the proposal to review the increase in State Pension age in the Budget and we gave a written ministerial statement to Parliament on 24 June 2010, Official Report, columns 21-22WS. A call for evidence was published and received substantial national and regional press coverage. We received 352 responses from individuals and 46 from organisations.

State Retirement Pensions: Age

Eilidh Whiteford: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment his Department made of the required implementation period for changes to the retirement age to allow individuals sufficient time to adjust their financial arrangements.

Steve Webb: The notice period given to individuals affected by bringing forward the increase of state pension to 66 has to be balanced against the need to ensure that the state pensions system is sustainable and fair to each generation. In order to address the rapid increases in life expectancy, it will not be possible to give a notice period similar to those given for previous increases in state pension age.
	The increase to 66 will be phased in so that people whose state pension age increases most will have a longer notice period.

State Retirement Pensions: Age

Eilidh Whiteford: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what information his Department holds for benchmarking purposes on the experience of other countries who have increased their pension age.

Steve Webb: Information on other countries which already have a State Pension age of 66, or will have done so before the UK’s current legislated timetable, is in the Government’s White Paper ‘A sustainable State Pension: when the State Pension age will increase to 66’.

State Retirement Pensions: Females

Peter Bottomley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will estimate the cost to the public purse of limiting increases in women’s state pension ages to a maximum of 12 months in addition to the timetable set by the Pensions Act 2005 in each financial year to 2015-16.

Steve Webb: Women’s state pension age is already increasing from 60 to 65 by 2020 under the Pensions Act 1995. Under the Pensions Act 2007, the state pension age for both men and women is due to increase to 66 between 2024 and 2026, followed by two further increases at 10-year intervals.
	As the proposed changes to women’s state pension age contained in the Pensions Bill do not start to take effect until April 2016, there can be no additional cost to the public purse in each financial year to 2015-16.

State Retirement Pensions: Females

Peter Bottomley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will estimate the cost to the public purse of retaining the existing state pension age for women to determine the age of eligibility for pension credit in each financial year to 2015-16.

Steve Webb: The qualifying age for pension credit is already increasing from 60 to 65 by 2020 along with the existing women’s state pension age under the Pensions Act 1995. It is currently around 60 and three months.
	The cost of retaining the current women’s state pension age (around 60 and three months) as the qualifying age for pension credit is in the table:
	
		
			 Increase in spend on pension credit 
			  £ million (2010-11 prices) 
			 2011-12 69.1 
			 2012-13 212.7 
			 2013-14 359.7 
			 2014-15 506.0 
			 2015-16 649.5 
			 Total 1,797.0

Voluntary Work and Charitable Donations

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether his Department has a policy to encourage its employees to (a) volunteer and (b) donate via payroll giving.

Chris Grayling: The information is as follows:
	Volunteering
	The Department is very proud of its commitment to volunteering. Staff are consistently encouraged to engage in their community. The Department has been running its volunteering scheme—Community 5,000—for around four years. It has recently doubled its commitment by encouraging staff to sign up to 10,000 volunteering days a year. The Department’s senior management are leading the way actively taking part and encouraging others to join in.
	For many years, the Department has also granted a set amount of paid leave for staff to serve as magistrates and school governors. Many staff take up this opportunity.
	Donations via payroll giving
	DWP operates a flexible payroll giving scheme which provides the opportunity for all employees to give regularly on a tax-free basis to charities and good causes of their choice.
	Employees can give money on a regular basis to a charity, or charities by tax-free deductions from their pay. The donations are made from gross pay. Employees may contribute to a maximum of four registered charities (or other organisations registered as charitable by HM Revenue and Customs). They have the option to make monthly donations or a one-off deduction. The minimum donation for both is £12.00 per annum and there is no maximum limit.

HOME DEPARTMENT

Crime Levels

Graeme Morrice: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment she has made of trends in the levels of crime recorded by the British Crime Survey since 1997.

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment she has made of trends in the levels of crime recorded by the British Crime Survey since 1997.

Nick Herbert: The two main measures of crime—the British Crime Survey and police recorded crime—provide either a partial or confusing picture of trends in crime since 1997. That is why I have asked the National Statistician to lead an independent review of how they are produced and we await her report later in the year.
	This Government believe that it is crucial for the public to have the information they need to hold local services to account. The new police.uk website gives communities access to monthly street level crime and antisocial behaviour data—in line with our commitment to greater transparency across public services.

Antisocial Behaviour

Rachel Reeves: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when she plans to publish the outcome of the Government’s review of antisocial behaviour powers.

James Brokenshire: We published a consultation document which outlined the findings of the review of antisocial behaviour powers on 7 February 2011.
	Our review of the current tools and powers found that they are bureaucratic and do not work effectively. For example, the most recent statistics on ASBOs showed that 56% have been breached; many more than once.

Police Services

Elfyn Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what definition of the term front line her Department uses in relation to police services.

Nick Herbert: Frontline officers and staff are generally those directly involved in the public crime fighting face
	of the force. This includes neighbourhood policing, response policing and less visible functions such as criminal investigation.

Police Numbers: Crime Levels

Siobhain McDonagh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what research her Department has commissioned and evaluated on any relationship between numbers of police officers and levels of crime.

Angela Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what research her Department has commissioned and evaluated on any relationship between numbers of police officers and levels of crime.

Nick Herbert: The Government believe that police forces can make savings while protecting the frontline. We do not accept that reducing costs will cause an increase in crime. What matters is how resources are used and how officers are deployed.

Asylum Seekers: Glasgow

John Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many cases of attempted suicide by asylum seekers in Glasgow were reported to her Department in the last 12 months.

Damian Green: The UK Border Agency received four reports of attempted suicide by asylum seekers in Glasgow over the last 12 months.
	The UK Border Agency takes very seriously the need to respect and provide for the mental health needs of vulnerable individuals seeking asylum in the UK. Throughout their asylum application, all individuals receive the same free access to NHS services and additional support that is available to the general public.

Injuries

Patrick Mercer: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) physical assaults, (b) verbal assaults, (c) injuries and (d) serious injuries have been reported by (i) Metropolitan police force officers, (ii) Nottinghamshire police force officers and (iii) all police officers in England and Wales in each year since 1997.

Nick Herbert: Information on verbal assaults is not available centrally. The offence classification of ‘Assault on a constable’ was added to the Police Recorded Crime series from 1 April 1998, however the type of assault cannot be separately identified as the data collected are on an aggregate basis and does not cover assaults with injury.
	Separate data on the numbers of police officers on duty who were assaulted and resulting injury for Metropolitan police, Nottinghamshire, and the total for the 43 police forces in England and Wales from 2005-06 to 2007-08 and 2008-09 to 2009-10 are provided in tables A and B respectively. Police officer assault numbers for 2004-05 and previous periods were published by HM Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC) and can be seen in the HMIC annual report, available in the Library of the House.
	
		
			 Table A: Assaults   (1)on police officers on duty, 2005-06 to 2007-08 
			  2005-06 2006-07 2007-08 
			 Police force area Fatal injury Serious injury Minor or no injury Fatal injury Serious injury Minor or no injury Fatal injury Serious injury Minor or no injury 
			 Metropolitan police 0 228 2,168 0 237 2,060 0 210 1,912 
			 Nottinghamshire 0 2 221 0 3 221 0 1 168 
			 England and Wales total(2,3)  3 423 11,592 0 506 10,993 1 502 10,890 
			 (1) Provisional data collated on behalf of HMIC. Serious assaults are those for which the charge would be under sections 18 and 20 of the offences Against the Person Act 1861. Other assaults include those with minor or no injury. Recording practices may vary over time and between forces. (2) Cleveland were not able to provide data for 2005-06. Cumbria were not able to provide data for 2006-07 and 2007-08, North Yorkshire and South Wales were not able to provide data for 2005-06 to 2007-08 (3) Derbyshire in all years and Devon and Cornwall in 2005-06 only were not able to separately identify the degree of assault. 
		
	
	
		
			 Table B: Assaults   (1)on police officers on duty, 2008-09 to 2009-10 
			  2008-09 2009-10 
			 Police force area Fatal injury Serious injury Minor or no injury Fatal injury Serious injury Minor or no injury 
			 Metropolitan police 0 179 1,941 0 177 1,720 
			 Nottinghamshire 0 0 177 0 0 110 
			 England and Wales total(2,3,4)  1 439 9,882 0 381 7,794 
			 (1) Provisional data collated on behalf of HMIC. Serious assaults are those for which the charge would be under sections 18 and 20 of the offences Against the Person Act 1861. Other assaults include those with minor or no injury. Recording practices may vary over time and between forces (2) Data on ‘minor or no injury’ for Cleveland were not available for 2008-09. (3) Cumbria and North Yorkshire were not able to provide data for 2008-09. (4) Cheshire, Gloucestershire, Greater Manchester, Hampshire and North Yorkshire were not able to provide data for 2009-10.

Anti-Terrorism Control Orders

Julian Huppert: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether she plans to publish draft legislation and guidance on terrorist protection and investigation measures prior to seeking parliamentary approval for the extension of arrangements for control orders.

Nick Herbert: holding answer 4 March 2011
	We will introduce the legislation as soon as possible. It was not practical to introduce the Bill before the debates on renewal of the Prevention of Terrorism Act 2005.

Asylum: Domestic Violence

Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  what provision her Department makes for the accommodation of asylum seekers with children who have experienced domestic violence;
	(2)  what provision her Department makes to assist married or partnered asylum seekers who have experienced domestic violence.

Damian Green: The UK Border Agency guidance for supported asylum seekers who experience domestic violence is set out in Policy Bulletin 70: Domestic Violence. Requests for assistance from domestic violence victims and their dependants are dealt with promptly with safe and secure accommodation offered immediately. The UK Border Agency will support the victim with their decision to report the incident(s) to social services and/or the police. A case conference may be convened, if appropriate, or local protocols enacted involving relevant corporate partners to agree an action plan, subject to the permission of the victim.

Automatic Number Plate Recognition

Philip Hollobone: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if she will take steps to encourage greater use of automated number plate recognition technology by police forces better to facilitate the policing of (a) offences related to driving while uninsured or untaxed and (b) other road traffic offences.

James Brokenshire: Automatic number plate recognition technology is an effective and valuable tool that plays an important role in dealing with the menace of uninsured or untaxed vehicles and other road traffic offences, as well as a wider range of criminal matters by targeting criminals through their use of the roads. The police service is already well aware of the value of ANPR, but decisions on when and how to use that technology are operational decisions for individual police forces in the context of dealing with the full range of local policing issues.

Citizenship

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many deprivation of citizenship orders have been issued in each of the last five years.

Damian Green: In the last five years, deprivation orders have been issued against a total of nine individuals.
	In 2010 orders were issued against five individuals.
	In 2009 orders were issued against two individuals.
	In 2008 no orders were issued.
	In 2007 an order was issued against one individual.
	In 2006 an order was issued against one individual.
	This information has been provided from local management information and is not a National Statistic. As such it should be treated as provisional and therefore subject to change.

Counter-terrorism Review

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the oral statement of 26 January 2011, Official Report, column 306, on the Counter-terrorism Review, when she expects to introduce the legislative proposals required to implement the outcome of the Counter-terrorism Review.

Nick Herbert: The Protection of Freedoms Bill, which was introduced on 11 February, is being used for the changes to terrorism stop and search, local authority use of investigatory powers and pre-charge detention. The draft emergency 28 day pre-charge detention Bills (Draft Detention of Terrorist Suspects (Temporary Extension) Bills) were published as a Command Paper at the same time.
	The Government intend to introduce legislation replacing the control order regime as soon as possible. In the interim, we are seeking to renew the control order legislation (Prevention of Terrorism Act 2005) until the end of the year to allow time for new legislation on the replacement regime to be considered.
	On the wider question of communications data, the Government intend to ensure that as far as possible, they are only accessed through the revised regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000. We will bring forward specific legislation to this effect in a future communications data Bill.

Counter-terrorism: Finance

Ben Wallace: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what proportion of the new funds recently announced for surveillance of terrorist suspects will be distributed to (a) the Special Branch and (b) SO13.

Nick Herbert: We do not provide detailed breakdowns of what money we provide for specific security activities as this would provide detailed information about our capabilities and techniques which could undermine national security.

Crime: Victims

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  how many people in England were a victim of crime in each year from 1997 to 2010;
	(2)  how many people in England were a victim of serious crime in each year from 1997 to 2010.

Nick Herbert: holding answer 28 February 2011
	There are two main sources of official statistics on crime in England and Wales: police recorded crime and the British Crime Survey (BCS).
	The BCS provides an estimate of the number of crimes where the victim was an adult resident in households and published figures are available for England and Wales on trends since 1997 in the annual statistical bulletin “Crime in England and Wales 2009/10” (Tables 2.01 and 2.02), a copy of which is available in the House of Commons Library. However, the main BCS crime count does not include all crimes experienced by victims resident in households, with homicide and sexual offences notable omissions. In addition, child victims and other victims not resident in households have previously been excluded from the survey.
	The police recorded crime series covers all crimes reported to the police but is restricted to the subset of crimes that are notifiable and has been affected by changes in levels of public reporting, police recording practices and also policing activity. Published figures are available for England and Wales on trends since 1997 in the annual statistical bulletin “Crime in England and Wales 2009/10” (Table 2.04).
	The annual statistical bulletin provides detailed breakdowns of crimes by offence types but there is not an official classification of “serious crime”.

Crimes of Violence: Women

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps the Government is taking to tackle violence against women and girls.

Lynne Featherstone: The ambition of this Government is to end all forms of violence against women and girls. ‘Call to End Violence Against Women and Girls’, published in November 2010, sets out the Government's guiding principles in this area over the spending review period, including a commitment from the Home Office to provide £28 million of funding for specialist services.
	A detailed set of supporting actions together with a full response to Baroness Stern's review into the way rape complaints are handled by public authorities will be published on International Women's Day, on 8 March.

Departmental Food

William Bain: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when she expects her Department to meet the Government’s commitment to source food that meets British or equivalent standards of production.

Damian Green: The Home Office do not contract directly for food supplies but procure catering services through wider FM or operating service contracts. We have as part of Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) led initiatives in this respect contacted the relevant suppliers and have received some initial responses indicating that the proportion of food already procured that meets British standards is in the region of 70% to 100%. However, as this does not cover all the suppliers or all food groups, we will be working with the suppliers to continue to understand exactly what proportions do meet British production standards and what potential there is to increase this percentage.
	The Home office will be contributing to the DEFRA led report on this matter which is planned for June 2011.

Departmental Official Residences

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate she has made of the cost to the public purse of residences used by Ministers in her Department in the latest period for which figures are available.

Damian Green: No costs have been incurred by the Department on official residences since May 2010.

Departmental Pay

Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if she will take steps to ensure that her published departmental organisational chart includes the names and responsibilities of all staff paid over £58,200 per annum in her Department and in the non-departmental public bodies and agencies for which she is responsible.

Damian Green: The level of salary disclosure in organisational structure charts already helps enable the public to hold Departments to account for their use of public funds. There are no current plans to extend the scope of salary disclosure when structure charts are updated.

Departmental Public Bodies

Stephen Barclay: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what expenditure (a) her Department and (b) each public body sponsored by her Department incurred on engaging external audit services in each of the last three years; and to which service providers such payments were made in each year.

Damian Green: The external audit fee costs recorded in the published annual Home Office Resource Accounts were:
	
		
			 £000 
			  Financial year 
			  2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 
			 (a) Home Office and agencies 911.0 979.0 1,064.0 
			     
			 (b) NDPBs    
			 IPCC 38.0 41.0 45.0 
			 ISA 10.0 30.0 40.0 
		
	
	
		
			 NPIA 180.0 155.0 162.0 
			 OISC 17.0 22.0 27.0 
			 SIA 27.5 31.0 46.0 
			 SOCA 211.0 142.0 153.0 
			     
			 Home Office, agencies and NDPBs consolidated 1,394.5 1,400.0 1,537.0 
		
	
	The only supplier of external audit services to the Home Office, Home Office agencies, and Home Office non-departmental public bodies (NDPBs) is National Audit Office (NAO).
	It should be noted that:
	NDPBs make near-cash/non-ringfence payments to NAO for their external audit services.
	The Home Office and agencies record a notional (ringfence/non-cash cost) in their accounts for external audit fee costs.

Departmental Regulation

Gordon Banks: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what regulations her Department introduced between 18 November 2010 and 8 February 2011.

Nick Herbert: The following statutory instruments in the form of regulations were introduced between 18 November 2010 and 8 February 2011.
	The Immigration and Nationality (Fees) (No.2) Regulations 2010 (S.I. 2010/2807) on 21 November 2010
	The Police Authority (Amendment No. 2) Regulations 2010 (S.I. 2010/2826) on 24 November 2010
	The Licensing Act 2003 (Premises licences and permitted temporary activities) (Forms and notices) (Amendment) Regulations 2010 (S.I 2010/2851) on 29 November 2010
	The Immigration (Biometric Registration) (Amendment) Regulations 2010 (S.I. 2010/2958) on 13 December 2010
	The Private Security Industry Act 2001 (Exemption) (Aviation Security) Regulations 2010 (S.I. 2010/3018) on 20 December 2010
	The Police Authority (Amendment No. 3) Regulations 2010 (S.I. 2010/3030) on 21 December 2010
	The Police Federation (Amendment) Regulations 2011 (S.I. 2011/230) on 4 February 2011

Detention Centres

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many stateless persons (a) are resident in the UK, (b) are lawfully resident in the UK, (c) are held in immigration detention because they (i) have no leave to remain and (ii) are subject to removal proceedings after having served a prison sentence and (d) are serving sentences in UK prisons.

Damian Green: The Office for National Statistics do not have the information necessary to make an estimate of the number of stateless people in the UK. Estimates of the UK population by nationality are available from the Annual Population Survey but there is no coding for stateless persons. Published tables are available on the Office for National Statistics website at:
	http://www.statistics.gov.uk/statbase/Product.asp?vlnk=15147
	According to internal UK Border Agency management information, there are currently no stateless persons in immigration detention. Additionally, the National Offender Management Service (NOMS) do not separately record the number of stateless persons in prison in their published statistics.

Detention Centres

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment she has made of the time taken in transferring immigrants diagnosed with a mental illness from detention centres to appropriate healthcare settings; and what steps her Department is taking to reduce the time taken in such transfers.

Damian Green: All detainees have access to secondary health care services, including mental health provision. Responsibility for providing secondary health care treatment for immigration detainees rests with primary care trusts, including the hospitalisation of those with acute mental health illness. There have on occasion been unacceptable delays in such detainees being provided with a bed, and the UK Border Agency has therefore been working with the Department of Health and Ministry of Justice’s Mental Health Unit to refine processes so that primary care trusts deliver treatment promptly.

Entry Clearances: Overseas Students

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans she has for the publication of responses to the consultation on her proposals for student visas.

Damian Green: A consultation on the student immigration system closed on 31 January. Responses to the consultation are currently being considered. The results of the consultation, including an overview of the consultation responses, and an impact assessment will be published in due course.

Entry Clearances: Overseas Students

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people who were granted settlement in 2010 initially entered the UK on student visas.

Damian Green: holding answer 2 March 2011
	The UK Border Agency published research entitled “The Migrant Journey” in September 2010, which provides a breakdown of those granted settlement in 2009 by their original route of entry. The report is available in the Library of the House.
	The UK Border Agency is currently planning to update the data in this report, once the data has been finalised, the relevant datasets combined and checked,
	and the analysis undertaken. The updated statistics for 2010 will be made available later this year once this work has been carried out.

Entry Clearances: Overseas Students

Conor Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many students from outside the EU were granted visas to study at each (a) privately- and (b) publicly-funded further education institution that had been (i) awarded and (ii) not awarded highly trusted status by the UK Border Agency in the most recent year for which figures are available.

Damian Green: The information requested is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Hacking

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether data losses have been reported to her Department by the security services as a result of computer hacking by media organisations in the last 12 months.

Nick Herbert: No data losses have been reported to the Home Office by the security services as a result of computer hacking by media organisations in the last 12 months.

Hizb ut-Tahrir

Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent consideration she has given to the proscription of Hizb ut-Tahrir under the Terrorism Act 2000.

Nick Herbert: The Government do not normally comment on whether an organisation is, or is not, under consideration for proscription. However, Hizb ut-Tahrir is an organisation about which the Government have significant concerns and their activities are closely monitored.

Homicide

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the homicide rate was in each of the last 10 years.

Nick Herbert: Available information is from the Homicide Index as at 28 September 2010. It relates to offences currently recorded as homicide in England and Wales and was published in table 1.01 of the latest homicide chapter, which is available online at:
	http://rds.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs11/hosb0111.pdf
	The following table shows the number of homicides per million population for each year in the period 2000-01 to 2009-10. Data are shown according to the year in which offences were initially recorded as homicide; this is not necessarily the year in which the offence took place or the year in which any court decision was made. Data for 2010-11 are scheduled to be published in January 2012.
	
		
			 Rate of currently recorded homicides   (1)   : 2000-01 to 2009-10   (2)   —England and Wales, recorded crime 
			 Offences per million population 
			 Year   (2) Number 
			 2001-02 15.2 
			 2002-03(3)  17.9 
			 2003-04 14.6 
			 2004-05 14.7 
			 2005-06 13.3 
			 2006-07 13.3 
			 2007-08 13.8 
			 2008-09 11.8 
			 2009-10 11.3 
			 (1) As at 28 September 2010; figures are subject to revision as cases are dealt with by the police and by the courts, or as further information becomes available. (2) Data are shown according to the year in which offences were initially recorded as homicide. This is not necessarily the year in which the offence took place, or the year in which any court decision was made. (3) Calculation includes 172 victims of Dr Harold Shipman.

Housing Benefit: Fraud

Nick de Bois: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans she has to allow local authorities to access police data systems for the purpose of reducing housing benefit and council tax fraud.

Nick Herbert: There are arrangements already in place by which a Government Department or other public body may make request to the Association of Chief Police officers (ACPO) for access to police data systems for the purposes of crime detection or prevention.

Human Trafficking

Peter Bone: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when she plans to announce the Government's strategy on human trafficking; and if she will make a statement.

Damian Green: holding answer 4 March 2011
	Combating human trafficking is a key priority for the Government. We are committed to tackling organised crime groups which profit from this human misery and to protecting victims. We intend to publish our new strategy on human trafficking in the spring.

Illegal Immigrants: Employment

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many civil penalties have been imposed on employers for employing illegal workers since the introduction of the provision; and how much was (a) levied and (b) collected in each quarter since the introduction of the provision.

Damian Green: holding answer 3 March 2011
	Since the introduction of the illegal working civil penalty regime on 29 February 2008 to 31 January 2011, a total of 5,661 notices of liability for a civil penalty have been issued to employers.
	The following table shows the amounts levied and collected in each quarter since the first penalty was issued in May 2008 under Section 15 of the Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act 2006.
	
		
			 £ 
			 Quarter Amount levied Amount collected 
			 2008    
			 April to June 3.44 million 15,000 
			 July to September 4.70 million 322,000 
			 October to December 3.14 million 508,000 
			    
			 2009    
			 January to March 5.43 million 465,000 
			 April to June 4.46 million 649,000 
			 July to September 8.60 million 907,000 
			 October to December 4.37 million 1.22 million 
			    
			 2010    
			 January to March 5.80 million 1.46 million 
			 April to June 5.47 million 1.61 million 
			 July to September 4.47 million 1.70 million 
			 October to December 3.20 million 1.80 million 
			 Note:  This data is derived from local management information and is therefore provisional and subject to change. It is important to note that the amount levied does not represent the recoverable value of illegal working civil penalties debt, since civil penalties may be reduced, cancelled or increased after consideration of objections submitted to the CPCT and reduced or cancelled after consideration of Appeals submitted to the county courts in England, Wales and Northern Ireland and the Sheriff's Courts in Scotland.

Immigration Controls

Henry Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans she has to consult on proposals to reduce levels of net migration through routes other than student visas.

Damian Green: We have already set out our approach this year to economic migration. We will shortly announce proposals for reforming the student visa system, following consideration of responses to our recent public consultation. We will launch further consultations on settlement and the family routes later this year.

Immigration: Heathrow Airport

Julian Huppert: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how long on average immigration queuing times for (a) EU and (b) non-EU nationals were at Heathrow airport in each of the last 12 months; what targets have been set for such queuing times; how frequently these targets have not been met in the latest period for which figures are available; and if she will take steps to publish regular information on queuing times for immigration.

Damian Green: holding answer 3 March 2011
	The national target set out in the UK Border Agency business plan for passenger clearance is to clear 95% of European economic area (EEA) passengers within 25 minutes and 95% of non-EEA passengers within 45 minutes. The performance against those targets for Heathrow over the last 12 months is set out in the following table:
	
		
			  Percentage of EEA queues within target waiting time Percentage of non-EEA queues within target waiting time 
			 February 2010 100.0 99.3 
			 March 2010 99.9 98.8 
			 April 2010 99.7 96.7 
		
	
	
		
			 May 2010 99.9 98.5 
			 June 2010 99.5 94.6 
			 July 2010 99.2 91.3 
			 August 2010 99.5 97.3 
			 September 2010 99.3 87.4 
			 October 2010 99.5 96.1 
			 November 2010 99.4 97.1 
			 December 2010 99.5 96.1 
			 January 2011 99.4 95.2 
		
	
	The monthly performance target was not met for non EEA passengers on three occasions over the 12 month period.
	Performance against passenger clearance targets will be published at a national level from April 2011 onwards as part of the Government’s Transparency Framework.

Lord Macdonald of River Glaven

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when she last met Lord Macdonald of River Glaven QC.

Theresa May: I last spoke to Lord MacDonald of River Glaven QC on 25 January 2011.

Members: Correspondence

David Winnick: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when she expects to respond to the letter from the hon. Member for Walsall North of 12 January 2011 on correspondence from the Chair of the West Midlands police authority.

Nick Herbert: holding answer 10 February 2011
	I responded to the hon. Member's letter on 21 February 2011. A copy of the letter has been placed in the House Library.

Missing Persons

Vernon Coaker: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent estimate she has made of the number of police forces which are complying with the Police Code of Practice for Missing Persons Data.

Nick Herbert: As of 3 March 2011 the number of Home Office police forces who are complying fully with both aspects of the code of practice is 19.
	These figures reflect data held centrally on that date. The data are management information and have not been formally assessed for compliance with the Code of Practice for Official Statistics.

Operation Viper

Jesse Norman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans she has for the future funding arrangements for Operation Viper.

Nick Herbert: We plan to set aside specific grant funding to ensure that the collaborative response to
	organised crime is maintained throughout England and Wales. A decision will be made shortly on how the funding allocated for this purpose will be disbursed.

Police: Accountability

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  how she plans to redistribute funds from the Neighbourhood Policing Fund following the introduction of police and crime commissioners;
	(2)  what assumptions her Department has made for business planning purposes of the likely change in the number of police community support officers in each police force area in (a) 2011-12 and (b) 2012-13.

Nick Herbert: The Government believe that police community support officers are a part of the policing family providing a visible, uniformed presence on our streets. We have maintained the Neighbourhood Policing Fund for a transitional period until the introduction of police and crime commissioners (PCCs) except for London, where the Metropolitan Police Authority will have full autonomy over this funding from 2011-12.
	From 2013-14 the Neighbourhood Policing Fund (NPF) will be subsumed into the police main grant and PCCs will have full discretion over this funding.

Police: Defamation

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what provision her Department makes for (a) financial and (b) other support for police officers who take legal action as a result of experiencing defamation in the course of their duties.

Nick Herbert: The Home Office does not allocate funding to the police for this purpose and does not provide any other support to officers under these circumstances. This is a matter for the relevant police authority.

Police: Demonstrations

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment she has made of the proportionality of the use of CS gas by police officers against protestors in Oxford street on 29 January 2011.

Nick Herbert: A decision to use CS spray rests with the individual officer in line with the legal framework which provides that a police officer may only use such force as is reasonable or necessary in order to prevent crime, or effect or assist in the lawful arrest of offenders or suspected offenders.

Police: Finance

Conor Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans she has to revise the funding formula for grants to police authorities; and if she will make a statement.

Nick Herbert: The Department for Communities and Local Government led on an overarching consultation
	during the summer of 2010 on technical improvements to the means by which funding is allocated to all local authorities. This included the police allocation formula (PAF), which is used to allocate funding to police authorities.
	All police authorities, forces and policing partners were able to submit representations setting out their views on the proposed changes. Home Office Ministers took into consideration all representations made as part of this consultation, as well as recommendations from the police allocation formula working group. They decided to make three technical changes to the formula:
	Rolling Rule 2 Grant, the Crime Fighting Fund and the Basic Command Unit Fund into Police Main Grant;
	Changing the measurement of bar density;
	Using updated Activity Based Costing (ABC) data
	There are currently no plans to review the formula further.

Police: Length of Service

Bridget Phillipson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police officers in each police force had served 30 or more years as of 1 January 2011.

Nick Herbert: holding answer 28 February 2011
	The available data are provided in the table which shows the number ofpolice officers in each police force area with 30 years service or more, asat 31 March 2010. The length of service for police officers for 2011 is notyet available.
	
		
			 Policeofficers in eachpoliceforce area with 30 years service or more on 31 March 2010   (1) 
			  Number 
			 Avon and Somerset 47 
			 Bedfordshire 26 
			 British Transport police 244 
			 Cambridgeshire 16 
			 Cheshire (2)— 
			 Cleveland 60 
			 Cumbria 17 
			 Derbyshire 67 
			 Devon and Cornwall 52 
			 Dorset 20 
			 Durham 36 
			 Dyfed-Powys 24 
			 Essex 79 
			 Gloucestershire 11 
			 Greater Manchester 64 
			 Gwent 15 
			 Hampshire 72 
			 Hertfordshire 40 
			 Humberside 26 
			 Kent 78 
			 Lancashire 50 
			 Leicestershire 34 
			 Lincolnshire 16 
			 London, City of 31 
			 Merseyside 122 
			 Metropolitan police 1,154 
			 Norfolk 7 
			 Northamptonshire 17 
			 Northumbria 34 
			 North Wales 21 
			 North Yorkshire 12 
		
	
	
		
			 Nottinghamshire 57 
			 South Wales 53 
			 South Yorkshire 20 
			 Staffordshire 40 
			 Suffolk 13 
			 Surrey 35 
			 Sussex 41 
			 Thames Valley 64 
			 Warwickshire 11 
			 West Mercia 81 
			 West Midlands 198 
			 West Yorkshire 126 
			 Wiltshire 29 
			 Total 3,260 
			 (1 )This table contains full-time equivalent figures that have been rounded to the nearest whole number. (2) Cheshire is unable to provide length of service figures.

Police: Liverpool

Louise Ellman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if she will assess the likely effects of her proposals to reduce the police grant on the level of crime in Liverpool.

Nick Herbert: holding answer 28 February 2011
	The Government do not accept that reducing costs will cause an increase in crime. What matters is how resources are used and how officers are deployed.

Police: Mass Media

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what reports she has received on the use of private investigators by media organisations to follow serving police officers in the course of their duties; and if she will make a statement.

Nick Herbert: We have received no such reports.

Police: Public Order

Patrick Mercer: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans she has to produce standard national guidelines on policing public order events.

Nick Herbert: The Association of Chief Police Officers published updated guidance on public order policing in December 2010. The Government are currently considering
	the Policing Public Order Report published by Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary in February 2011.

Police: Voluntary Work

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate she has made of the number of (a) people who volunteered and (b) hours given by volunteers in police services in the latest period for which figures are available; and if she will make a statement.

Nick Herbert: There were 16,772 special constables (headcount) in the 43 forces of England and Wales as at 30 September 2010. Data on the hours of duty performed by special constables for 2009-10 are not available centrally.
	The Home Office does not collect figures on any other voluntary police staff other than special constables. The latest provisional police service strength statistics relate to 30 September 2010 and were published on 27 January 2011. They are available at:
	http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/policeorg1.html
	Full annual statistics for 31 March 2011 are expected to be published in July 2011.

Policy: Bureaucracy

Patrick Mercer: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans she has to implement the recommendations of the report by Jan Berry on Reducing Bureaucracy in Policing.

Nick Herbert: We are already implementing recommendations from Jan Berry's report on Reducing Bureaucracy in Policing, including returning certain charging decisions to the police, a more proportionate approach to inspections, and revising the police performance development reviews. We are continuing to take forward work that will reduce unnecessary police bureaucracy.

Sponsors

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many regulations sponsored by her Department have been (a) introduced since 18 November 2010 and (b) revoked since 2 February 2011. [Official Report, 14 March 2011, Vol. 525, c. 1MC.]

Nick Herbert: The following statutory instruments in the form of regulations have been made by the Department on or after 18 November 2010.
	
		
			 S.I. No. S.I. Title Made date 
			 2010 No. 2807 The Immigration and Nationality (Fees) (No. 2) Regulations 2010 21 November 2010 
			 2010 No. 2826 The Police Authority (Amendment No. 2) Regulations 2010 24 November 2010 
			 2010 No. 2851 The Licensing Act 2003 (Premises licences and permitted temporary activities) (Forms and notices) (Amendment) Regulations 2010 29 November 2010 
			 2010 No. 2958 The Immigration (Biometric Registration) (Amendment) Regulations 2010 13 December 2010 
			 2010 No. 3018 The Private Security Industry Act 2001 (Exemption) (Aviation Security) Regulations 2010 20 December 2010 
			 2010 No. 3030 The Police Authority (Amendment No. 3) Regulations 2010 21 December 2010 
			 2011 No. 230 The Police Federation (Amendment) Regulations 2011 4 February 2011 
			 2011 No. 300 The Police Act 1996 (Equipment) Regulations 2011 9 February 2011 
			 2011 No. 448 The Misuse of Drugs (Amendment) (England, Wales and Scotland) Regulations 2011 18 February 2011 
			 2011 No. 544 The Immigration (Accession and Worker Registration) (Revocation, Savings and Consequential Provisions) Regulations 2011 24 February 2011 
		
	
	The following statutory instruments in the form of regulations are revoked by the Department since 2 February. None of the revocations are yet in force.
	
		
			 (1) Regulations revoked (2) References (3) Extent of revocation (4) Revoking instrument 
			 The Misuse of Drugs (Amendment) (England, Wales and Scotland) Regulations 2010 S.I 2010/1144 Regulation 3(a) S.I 2011/544 
			     
			 The Immigration (European Economic Area) Regulations 2006 S.I. 2006/1003 Paragraph 7 of Schedule 5 S.I 2011/544 
			     
			 The Accession (Immigration and Worker Authorisation) Regulations 2006 S.I. 2006/3317 Paragraph 1 of Schedule 2 S.I 2011/544 
			     
			 The Accession (Immigration and Worker Authorisation) (Amendment) Regulations 2007 S.I. 2007/475 Regulation 3 S.I 2011/544 
			     
			 The Accession (Immigration and Worker Registration) (Amendment) Regulations 2007 S.I. 2007/928 The whole Regulations S.I 2011/544 
			     
			 The Accession (Worker Authorisation and Worker Registration) (Amendment) Regulations 2007 S.I. 2007/3012 Regulation 3 S.I 2011/544 
			     
			 The Accession (Immigration and Worker Registration) (Amendment) Regulations 2009 S.I. 2009/892 The whole Regulations S.I 2011/544 
			     
			 The Accession (Worker Authorisation and Worker Registration) (Amendment) Regulations 2009 S.I. 2009/2426 Regulation 3 S.I 2011/544

Telecommunications: Databases

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent progress she has made on the Intercept Modernisation Programme; and if she will make a statement.

Nick Herbert: The Interception Modernisation Programme was a programme under the last Government. As made clear in the strategic defence and security review, the Government will continue to build on an existing programme of work to preserve the ability of the law enforcement, security and intelligence agencies to obtain communications data and to intercept communications within the appropriate legal framework. We will legislate to ensure this is compatible with the Government’s approach to civil liberties and use of communications capabilities. As set out in the Home Office’s structural reform plan, details of this legislation will be announced in Parliament in due course.

Telephone Tapping: Newspaper Press

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if she will request a report from the Metropolitan Police Commissioner on how many current and former hon. Members are listed in the evidence file for the News of the World telephone hacking inquiry held by the Metropolitan police.

Nick Herbert: No. The Metropolitan police investigation is ongoing. The police have recently said that in the light of fresh evidence they have identified some individuals who had previously been advised that there was little or no information held by the MPS relating to them and that they are taking urgent steps to notify these individuals of developments. They have undertaken to contact anyone else who may be identified as a possible victim in the light of the ongoing consideration of the evidence.

Terrorism: Biological Weapons

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  what recent reports she has received on the development of biological weapons by al-Qaeda in Afghanistan; and if she will make a statement on the Government's preparedness for a biological attack;
	(2)  what measures are in place to respond to a biological attack by international terrorists; and whether such measures include the stockpiling of vaccines;
	(3)  what types of biological terrorist threat she has assessed as posing the greatest risk to the UK;
	(4)  whether emergency service personnel are routinely vaccinated against potential biological terrorist threats;
	(5)  what her policy is on the vaccination of emergency services personnel as part of the preparedness plans for the London 2012 Olympics.

Nick Herbert: Reports on development of biological weapons by al-Qaeda in Afghanistan would be classified. The Home Office works across Government to examine all available information and intelligence. The risk that different types of biological terrorist threats pose to the UK and the response that is appropriate to those risks is regularly reviewed and re-assessed.
	The Anti-Terrorism, Crime and Security Act (ATCSA) 2001, Part 7, legislates the security of dangerous substances that may be targeted or used by terrorists and covers biological agents which pose the greatest risk to the UK. Schedule 5 of the Act lists the biological pathogens
	and toxins to which the provisions of Part 7 apply. This covers both human and animal pathogens and not only the wild-type or 'intact' micro- organisms and toxins, but also genetic sequences derived from or coding for such substances. Selection of materials has been dependent upon a number of factors and is undertaken by a team of government and academic experts.
	Over the past six years, the UK has built up capability to prepare for a CBRN terrorist attack. Initial programmes are largely complete, however we are currently undergoing a programme of work to review and potentially augment and improve this capability.
	A wide range of possible incidents or attacks has been considered. Following this process, the UK Health Departments have established an appropriate stockpile of vaccines, medical countermeasures and specialist equipment to be used to protect and treat the public. For reasons of national security, it would be inappropriate to specify what particular countermeasures are held and where they are located.
	Government have taken steps to protect emergency service personnel against such threats. A cohort of frontline health workers has been vaccinated to deal with any initial suspected or confirmed cases of smallpox. No additional plans are in place specifically in response to the impending London 2012 Olympics, although risks are regularly reviewed based in part on the threat level in the national risk assessment (NRA).
	There is no current plan to make a statement on these issues due to the classified nature of much of the information in this area.

Terrorism: Coventry

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people were convicted of terrorist offences in Coventry in (a) 2009 and (b) 2010.

Nick Herbert: The Home Office does not collate statistics in this way. However, the Home Office does publish statistics on arrests and outcomes under the Terrorism Act 2000 (Operation of Police Powers under the Terrorism Act 2000 and Subsequent Legislation: Arrests, Outcomes and Stops and Searches). The link to the last edition of the publication is provided as follows:
	http://rds.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs10/hosb1810.pdf

Third Sector

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what account she has taken of the Compact between the Government and Civil Society in policy development.

Nick Herbert: The Home Office considers the role of the Compact to be central to the relationship between the Department and civil society organisations. We strive to ensure that Compact principles are firmly embedded within Home Office policy development, not only when engaging with our stakeholders, but also in exemplifying better financial management of grants. A senior Home Office official has been identified to act as 'Compact Champion' for my Department. This role extends beyond the core Home Office to its agencies
	and other related statutory partners and we are keen to ensure steps are taken, at key opportunities to reinforce Compact compliance issues with those partners.

Third Sector

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps her Department has taken to support the big society initiative.

Nick Herbert: The Home Office is fully supportive of the big society vision. It is clear that communities are safer places when local people are actively involved in maintaining order and have a say in how they are policed and how other services are provided. Baroness Newlove was appointed the Government's Champion for Active, Safer Communities in October 2010 and she will be making recommendations to Government about what needs to change in order to encourage and support more people to get actively involved in keeping their communities safer.
	The Government have also taken steps to ensure that there is more information in the hands of the public. Through the Police.uk website we have recently given communities across England and Wales easy access to street level crime and antisocial behaviour data for their area, alongside key neighbourhood policing information, such as details of their local neighbourhood policing team, details of their next beat meeting and how to get involved.
	We are replacing police authorities with directly elected police and crime commissioners. Police and crime commissioners will give accountability at the police force level and regular beat meetings will give direct accountability in neighbourhoods.

Translation Services

Patrick Mercer: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department on how many occasions police officers in  (a) the Metropolitan police,  (b) Nottinghamshire police and  (c) all police forces in England and Wales required the services of a translator in each year since 1997; and how many languages were involved in each force in each such year.

Nick Herbert: Information is not collected centrally on the number of occasions interpretation and translation services have been required by individual police forces nor on the languages for which such services were required. A project, led by the Ministry of Justice, is under way to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the arrangements across the whole of the justice system, including interpretation and translation services provided to the police.

Young People: Protection

Stella Creasy: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people were barred from working with children and vulnerable adults by the Independent Safeguarding Authority on the grounds of  (a) harm to and  (b) risk of harm to 16 and 17 year olds in (i) 2009 and (ii) 2010.

Lynne Featherstone: The Independent Safeguarding Authority (ISA) does not collect data in the form requested.
	The ISA operates under powers established in the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006, which defines a child as anyone who has not attained the age of 18. The ISA can bar individuals who demonstrate harm or a risk of harm to children in general rather than those defined by any specific age category.

EDUCATION

Adoption

Julian Sturdy: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what steps he plans to take to increase the number of successful adoption applications.

Tim Loughton: The Government expects the adoption system to work effectively for all looked after children who would benefit from this permanence option. I want to see more children adopted where this is in their best interests, less delay, timely matching (particularly for black and minority ethnic children) and better collaboration between local authorities and the voluntary sector.
	I want more people to consider being adopters. That is why, for instance, the Department provides funding to the British Association for Adoption and Fostering's National Adoption Week, which raises awareness of and dispels myths about adoption. I also want local authorities and other adoption agencies to think hard about how they respond to people who enquire about adopting a child. Those who are not needed by the agency in question should be directed to another adoption agency so that the interest of potentially suitable people is not lost. The revised statutory adoption guidance which I will be issuing shortly makes this clear.

Children in Care: Adoption

John Hemming: To ask the Secretary of State for Education if he will take steps to ensure that the care system only seeks adoption in cases where children cannot return to their parents.

Tim Loughton: The law is very clear that children should live with their parents wherever possible. Where a child is suffering, or is at risk of suffering, significant harm, the local authority has a duty to safeguard and promote the child's welfare. Local authorities cannot remove children from their parents (without the parents' consent) without first referring the matter to a court, and they cannot place a child for adoption (without the parents' consent) without a placement order made by a court.
	Local authorities must demonstrate that they have explored options for supporting the family before they apply for care proceedings. But I do want to see more children who really are unable return to their birth family safely find a stable and happy home with adoptive parents. That is why I have written to local authorities to ask them to do everything possible to increase the number of children appropriately placed for adoption, and why I have set up a Ministerial Advisory Group on Adoption to provide expert advice on a range of practical proposals to improve practice and issued revised guidance.
	The review by Professor Munro is looking at the whole issue of safeguarding, frontline practice and transparency, while the Family Justice Review is considering what changes are needed to the system so that it best benefits all children and families involved in proceedings.

Children: Carers

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what estimate he has made of the number of carers working with children in each region.

Tim Loughton: The requested information is not collected centrally.

Children: Parents

Phillip Lee: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what steps he is taking to ensure equality of access of parents to their children in divorce cases.

Tim Loughton: holding answer 4 March 2011
	At present, a statement of arrangements for children is filed with the petition in any divorce proceedings where there is a child of the family under the age of 18. It allows the petitioner to inform the court of the proposed arrangements for the children. The respondent can sign the statement to show their agreement if they wish. If the parties need a court order to decide the contact or residence arrangements after a divorce, this is applied for in separate proceedings under section 8 of the Children Act 1989.
	One of the principles within which the current Family Justice Review is operating is that the positive involvement of both parents should be promoted post-separation. The review is looking in particular at how to promote contact for non-resident parents. The Review Panel, which is independently chaired, is due to issue its interim report for consultation on 31 March, followed by a final report in the autumn. We shall be considering carefully its recommendations.

College of Social Work

Meg Munn: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what recent discussions he has had on the establishment of the College of Social Work.

Tim Loughton: In 2009 the Social Work Task Force recommended the establishment of an independent College of Social Work to articulate and promote the interests of good social work. It will give the profession itself strong, independent leadership; a clear voice in public debate, policy development and policy delivery; and strong ownership of professional social work standards.
	The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Education has oversight of this work and in the past month has had several conversations relating to the College with the chief executive of the British Association of Social Workers, has met Moira Gibb-the chair of the Social Work Reform Board, and met the interim co-chairs of the College of Social Work last month.

College of Social Work

Graham Stuart: To ask the Secretary of State for Education whether he has sought legal advice on the use of the title of College of Social Work by his Department's College of Social Work.

Tim Loughton: Legal advice has been provided to Ministers on related matters. This advice is, in the Department's view, subject to legal professional privilege.

College of Social Work

Graham Stuart: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what role he envisages for the Social Care Institute for Excellence in the operation of the College of Social Work.

Tim Loughton: The Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE) has been asked to facilitate the establishment of the College of Social Work, providing administrative support and expertise in a developmental phase of two years. Neither Government nor SCIE seek to influence the form or function of the emerging college. SCIE will have no role in the governance of the College that emerges.

Departmental Correspondence

Iain Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many letters from hon. Members his Department received between 11 May 2010 and 28 February 2011; and how many such letters have received a substantive reply to date within the internal performance management targets set by his Department.

Tim Loughton: The Department's correspondence target is to answer correspondence from hon. Members within 15 working days of receipt. Between 11 May 2010 and 28 February 2011 5,678 letters were received, of which 1,160 had a substantive reply within the Department's target.

Departmental Domestic Visits

Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what specialist sports schools and colleges each Minister in his Department has visited since their appointment.

Tim Loughton: holding answer 21 December 201 0
	Since May 2010, the Secretary of State for Education has visited three schools with a specialism in sport: Harefield Academy in Hillingdon, City of London Academy in Southwark, and Consett Community Sports College. The Minister of State for Schools, the hon. Member for Bognor Regis and Littlehampton (Mr Gibb) has visited Royal Alexandra and Albert School in Reigate. The Minister of State for Children and Families, the hon. Member for Brent Central (Sarah Teather) has visited Lyng Hall Specialist Sports College and Community School in Coventry
	The Secretary of State was impressed with the way the academies were making maximum use of the freedoms afforded to them by their academy status to improve provision for their pupils, both within their sport specialism and across the whole curriculum.

Departmental Freedom of Information

Iain Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many requests under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 his Department received between 11 May 2010 and 28 February 2011; and how many such requests received a substantive reply within  (a) the statutory deadlines laid down by the Act and  (b) the internal performance management targets set by his Department.

Tim Loughton: The Ministry of Justice publishes quarterly and annual statistics on the performance of about 40 central Government monitored bodies in dealing with requests under the Freedom of Information Act. Statistics for the second and third quarters of 2010 covering the period April to September can be found on the Ministry of Justice website at:
	http://www.justice.gov.uk/publications/freedomofinformation quarterly.htm
	and copies are available in the House Libraries.
	The statistics for the fourth quarter of 2010 will be published on 28 April 2011 in the 'Annual Report on Freedom of Information in Central Government 2010'. Statistics for the first quarter of 2011 will be published at the end of June 2011.
	Monitoring of compliance of requests under the Freedom of Information Act is in accordance with the statutory deadlines set out in that Act and takes no account of any internal correspondence deadlines.

Departmental Information Officers

Eilidh Whiteford: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many  (a) press officers,  (b) internal communications officers,  (c) external communications officers,  (d) communications strategy officers and  (e) other positions with a communications remit were employed by (i) his Department, (ii) its agencies and (iii) each other non-departmental public body sponsored by his Department on the most recent date for which figures are available.

Tim Loughton: h olding  answer 9 February 2011
	The annual Cabinet Office 'Back Office Benchmarking' survey publishes the number of staff employed in communications roles by government departments, agencies and non-departmental public bodies.
	The survey also includes staff numbers employed in key back office functions including Human Resources, Finance, Procurement, ICT, Property, Legal and Knowledge and Information Management.
	The most recent survey, for the financial year 2009/10 was published in December 2010 at
	http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/resource-library/back-office-benchmark-information-200910

Departmental Travel

Bridget Phillipson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how much his Department has spent on Ministerial travel since May 2010.

Tim Loughton: Since May 2010, this Department is committed to publishing quarterly online information on all ministerial overseas travel, including cost. The published information can be viewed at:
	http://www.education.gov.uk/aboutdfe/departmental information/transparency/a0065263/ministers-quarterly-returns
	The information for October to December 2010 will be published in due course. Information regarding the cost of ministerial rail and taxi travel is not recorded separately and can be provided only at disproportionate cost.
	I refer the hon. Member to the reply given on the 2 February 2011,  Official Report, column 839W, on the Department's expenditure on services provided by the Government Car Service.
	All travel by Ministers is undertaken in accordance with the ministerial code.

Duke of Edinburgh's Award Scheme

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what recent discussions his Department has had with the organisers of the Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme on the promotion of that scheme in schools.

Tim Loughton: The Department has had no recent discussions with the Duke of Edinburgh's Award Scheme about the promotion of their programme in schools and have not been approached to do this. I support the valuable work of the scheme and I know the positive influence it can have on young people, particularly those from disadvantaged backgrounds.

Family Intervention Projects

Andy Burnham: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many families have received assistance from family intervention projects in 2010-11 to date; and what estimate he has made of the number to receive such assistance in  (a) 2011-12,  (b) 2012-13 and  (c) 2013-14.

Tim Loughton: holding answer 2 March 2011
	The latest official statistics show that 4,870 families received a family intervention up to 31 March 2010. Figures for families supported up to 31 March 2011 will be published in September. We are not able to provide estimates for the number of families to receive support in future years. Decisions on this are determined locally, reflecting local needs.

Fee Schools: Public Expenditure

Emma Reynolds: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how much he has allocated to capital expenditure on free schools over the Comprehensive Spending Review period.

Nick Gibb: holding answer 10 February 2011
	] £50 million has been set aside in 2010-11 to meet the capital needs of free schools. Beyond that, provision forms part of the overall spending review settlement for schools. Allocations for free schools have yet to be decided and will be dependent in part on the conclusion of the capital review which we intend to publish in the spring.

Human Rights

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what estimate he made of the cost to his Department and its non-departmental public bodies of compliance with  (a) domestic,  (b) European and  (c) other international human rights requirements in each year since 1997; and if he will make a statement.

Tim Loughton: The Department for Education does not collate information on the costs of compliance with human rights requirements. The Department takes account of the domestic and international human rights framework in developing all its policies and practices, as it does other relevant legal obligations; an accurate estimate of the total cost of compliance with human rights obligations could not be made without incurring disproportionate cost.

Members: Correspondence

John Baron: To ask the Secretary of State for Education when he plans to respond to the letter from the hon. Member for Basildon and Billericay of 17 December 2010, concerning Mr Larrett.

Tim Loughton: holding answer 2 March 2011
	My hon. Friend the Minister of State for Schools (Mr Gibb) replied to the letter on 1 March.

Progress Project

Iain Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what assessment he has made of the performance of the Progress project against its objectives in  (a) England and  (b) each region.

Tim Loughton: h olding  answer 15 February 2011
	The Progress project, which aims to build the capacity of those working with young people in the voluntary and community sector, has been run by the Children's Workforce Development Council since October 2010. Data on the performance of the project is not currently available. However, the project is being independently evaluated and the report is expected in the Spring.

Pupils: Disadvantaged

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what research his Department has  (a) commissioned and  (b) evaluated on the effect of levels of social capital on levels of educational attainment.

Tim Loughton: The Department has not commissioned research to examine the effect of levels of social capital on levels of educational attainment. The Centre for Research on the Wider Benefits of Learning (a research centre previously sponsored by the Department) has however published a report on this topic in 2007; "The development and impact of Young people's social capital in secondary schools". This reports on three types on social capital and how they impact on education and wider outcomes.
	The Department has evaluated the evidence in the related area of deprivation and education. This looks at culture and social capital and the experience of schooling. The research evidence was published in a topic note "Deprivation and Education - The Evidence on Pupils in England: Foundation Stage to Key Stage 4" in March 2009.

Schools: Food

Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what plans he has for regulations pertaining to the quality and provision of food in schools.

Sarah Teather: The current school food standards were put in place because there was evidence that the quality of food in schools was not good. The standards have only been fully implemented since September 2009 after a phased introduction and they are still relatively new-we want to allow a period of 'settling in' before reviewing them. We will do this after the School Food Trust's study of the provision and consumption of food at lunch time in secondary schools has reported.

Sixth Form Education

Nicholas Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education whether he undertook an assessment of the likely effect on the  (a) curriculum,  (b) enrolment advice,  (c) on-programme support,  (d) mentoring,  (e) counselling,  (f) health advice,  (g) progression guidance,  (h) careers guidance and  (i) provision of non-certificated enrichment activities of post-16 students in his decision to reduce the funding for entitlement to 30 funded learning hours.

Nick Gibb: holding answer 24 January 2011
	We have had to make some difficult choices in order to tackle the budget deficit. Our first priority has been to protect the core education programmes offered by schools and colleges. This covers the whole range of courses including A levels, vocational qualifications, foundation learning and apprenticeships that equip young people with the knowledge and skills they need to progress.
	In addition, the savings we have made have enabled us to increase funding for the more disadvantaged and those needing additional support. £150 million of the funding that has been released from reducing the entitlement has been used to increase by almost a third the proportion of funding in the national funding formula which addresses deprivation. Schools and colleges will have the freedom to use this additional investment in the way they see fit in order to provide the activities that contribute to improved retention, attainment and successful progression. In addition we will also be re-investing over £200 million in increasing the size of programmes for students working below level 2 to give them the opportunity to gain level 1 and 2 qualifications.

Teachers: Misconduct

Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what plans his Department has to introduce a mechanism to provide anonymity for any teacher who is subject to an allegation of misconduct by a pupil.

Tim Loughton: The Government has included provisions in the Education Bill intended to provide teachers in schools with protection from false allegations by giving them a legal right to anonymity when accused by or on behalf of pupils at their school that they have committed a criminal offence until the point they are charged, minimising the destruction that false accusations can wreak.
	These provisions impose reporting restrictions on the media preventing the publication or broadcast of any information likely to identify the teacher concerned. Publication includes social networking sites. This follows the commitment in the Schools White Paper "The Importance of Teaching" to protect teachers from malicious allegations by legislating to grant teachers anonymity when they are the subject of an allegation that they have committed a criminal offence by or on behalf of a pupil at the school.

Teaching Methods: Reading

Annette Brooke: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what recent progress has been made in expanding the Every Child a Reader scheme.

Nick Gibb: holding answer 28 February 2011
	The Government committed £89 million of central funding to continue all three Every Child Programmes for 2010-2011. In the future, funding for these programmes will form part of the overall schools budget, and it will be for local authorities (LAs), in consultation with their Schools Forum, to decide on 2011-12 allocations to schools, taking account of previous levels of funding.
	There are 138 LAs involved in the Every Child a Reader (ECaR) programme this year, with 14 LAs choosing not to participate. Latest figures held by the Department (from autumn 2010) show that 21,979 children are involved in the ECaR programme.

UN Convention on the Rights of the Child

Natascha Engel: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what reviews relating to children and young people he has established since the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child issued its concluding observations on the UK on 3 October 2008; and how many of those reviews included an explicit reference to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child in their terms of reference.

Sarah Teather: This Government are committed to the UNCRC and to the implementation of the Convention in the UK. The Department routinely invites the Children's Commissioner and non governmental organisations, whose thinking is informed by the UNCRC, to feed into all significant consultations and reviews. It also involves children and young people in the development and review of policy.
	All reviews led by the Department for Education and its predecessor Department since the UN Committee published its Concluding Observations in October 2008 relate to children and young people and touch their lives in some way. A list and terms of reference are not provided on the grounds of disproportionate cost, but there have been significant reviews on matters that affect children and young people, such as the impact of the commercial world, sex and relationships, mental health, safeguarding and major policy statements on key areas such as education and child poverty. In particular, the review of the Office of the Children's Commissioner asked how the role can be configured to better demonstrate Government's commitment to UNCRC.

Voluntary Work and Charitable Donations

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Education whether his Department has a policy to encourage its employees to  (a) volunteer and  (b) donate via payroll giving.

Tim Loughton: The Department for Education has a policy to encourage its employees to volunteer, offering up to two days of paid special leave per year for non-statutory volunteering (such as being a trustee of a charity, or being a reading mentor at a local school). This is agreed with an individual employee's line manager. The Department also offers up to six days of paid special leave per year for school governors and up to 18 days of paid special leave per year for being a Justice of the Peace.
	The Department is currently looking to encourage more employee volunteering, in line with the principles of the Big Society.
	The Department has a Charitable Giving Scheme which enables employees to give tax-free donations regularly to a charity or charities of their choice through the payroll. Information on the scheme is available to all employees through the Department's intranet.

Written Questions: Government Responses

John Hemming: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what estimate his Department made as to the number of columns and lines required in  Hansard for a published reply to written parliamentary question 20371.

Tim Loughton: The Department does not estimate the number of columns and lines required to publish a reply in  Hansard. If a response to a PQ is longer than  Hansard would normally publish (over 4 pages of tables), notification will be printed that the response is available in the Library of the House. The response will be available to Members in the Library and on application to the House of Commons Information Office.

Young People: Crime Prevention

Elfyn Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what measures he is considering to prevent the involvement of young people in criminal activity.

Tim Loughton: The Government are committed to intervening early to prevent young people's involvement in criminal activity.
	Using funding from the early intervention grant, local areas now have greater flexibility and freedom to invest locally in a wide range of universal and specialist services that support vulnerable young people to achieve positive results, including avoiding criminal activity. While it is for local areas to determine where to target investment most effectively, the Government continue to support and promote a range of evidence-based targeted services for young people at risk of involvement in criminal activity.
	In addition, the Government are also reviewing the current set of antisocial behaviour powers to ensure that all local agencies have a toolkit that provides a strong deterrent and is quick, practical and easy to use.

HEALTH

Cancer: Health Services

Gareth Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent discussions his Department has had on late diagnosis of rarer cancers; with whom; on what dates; with what outcomes; and if he will make a statement.

Paul Burstow: We received responses from a range of groups representing rarer cancers during the development of 'Improving Outcomes: A Strategy for Cancer' which was published in January 2011. Information regarding the engagement with stakeholders is published at annex A of the strategy. A copy of the strategy has already been placed in the Library and is available on the Department's website at:
	www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Publications/PublicationsPolicyAndGuidance/DH_123371
	As set out in the strategy, through the National Awareness and Early Diagnosis Initiative, we are planning to work with charities which represent patients with rarer forms of cancer to assess what more can be done to raise awareness of rarer cancers and promote earlier diagnosis.

Departmental Expenditure

Stephen Barclay: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what expenditure  (a) his Department and  (b) each public body sponsored by his Department incurred on engaging external audit services in each of the last three years; and to which service providers such payments were made in each year.

Simon Burns: The expenditure for the Department and each public body sponsored by the Department incurred on engaging external audit services in each of the last three years is shown in the following table:
	
		
			  Table of external auditor fees f or the Department and its ALBs,  2007-08 to 2009-10 
			  £000 
			  Organisation  2009-10  2008-09  2007-08 
			 Department of Health(1) 567 565 542 
			 
			  Special Health Authorities (SpHAs)
			 Information Centre for health and social care 68 70 70 
			 National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence 54 57 45 
			 National Patient Safety Agency 46 52 45 
			 National Treatment Agency for Substance Misuse 37 32 32 
			 Appointments Commission 23 28 22 
			 NHS Blood and Transplant 130 138 124 
			 NHS Business Services Authority 148 250 250 
			 NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement 77 60 43 
			 NHS Litigation Authority 80 85 85 
			 SpHAs Subtotal 663 772 716 
			 
			  Non- departmental public bodies (NDPBs)
			 Alcohol Education and Research Council 7 3 3 
			 Care Quality Commission(2) 150 30 n/a 
			 Council for Healthcare Regulatory Excellence 24 22 19 
			 General Social Care Council 81 60 53 
			 Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (until April 2008) 48 39 43 
			 Monitor - Independent Regulator of Foundation Trusts(3) 26 27 25 
			 Human Tissue Authority 35 35 23 
			 Health Protection Agency(4) 148 207 192 
			 Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency 104 104 98 
			 NDPBs Subtotal 623 527 456 
			 
			 Total All 1,853 1,864 1,714 
			 (l) The audit fee represents the cost for the audit of the Department's Consolidated Accounts and the Summarised Accounts of the NHS carried out by the Comptroller and Auditor General. This amount does not include fees in respect of non-audit work. In 2008-09 of the total audit fee of £565,000, £65,000 relates to work undertaken in preparation for International Financial Reporting Standard implementation in 2009-10. It should be noted that the Department of Health audit fee is a non cash charge and therefore notional. NAO are funded directly by Parliament. In addition the NHS Purchasing and Supplies Agency, which is not included in the table, and NHS Business Services Authority had audit fees for 2009-10 and 2008-09 that were non cash. (2) 2008-09 was first year and only from 1 October 2008 to 31 March 2009. (3) Monitor also paid for audit of consolidated accounts of £86,000, £52,000 and £53,000 in 2009-10, 2008-09 and 2007-08 respectively. (4) The 2007-08 and 2008-09 fees combine the fees incurred by the Health Protection Agency and National Institute for Biological Standards and Control before their merger on 1 April 2009.  Notes: 1. The source of figures is the audited accounts for the relevant year.  2. All bodies were audited by the National Audit Office (NAO).

Departmental Procurement

Dominic Raab: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the cost to the public purse was of the  (a) procurement and  (b) outsourcing function of (i) his Department and (ii) the (A) agency, (B) non-departmental public bodies and (C) non-Ministerial Department for which he is responsible in the last financial year for which figures are available.

Simon Burns: The cost of running the procurement directorate within the Department for the financial year 2009-10 (the last year for which audited figures are available) was £1,553,145.
	A figure for running outsourcing functions within the Department is not available. There are a number of branches and directorates within the Department which undertake outsourcing activity. In addition, policy teams throughout the Department have roles identifying, specifying and managing outsourcing contracts. Accordingly it is not possible to accurately set out the costs and time allocations of all of these functions across the Department.
	The cost for the procurement and outsourcing function of the Department's Agency and non-departmental public bodies is shown in the following table:
	
		
			  £ 
			  Procurement and outsourcing function  Cost of procurement 2009-10  Cost of outsourcing function 2009-10 
			 Alcohol Education and Research Council 0 0 
			 Appointments Commission 0 0 
			 Care Quality Commission 401,000 303,400 
			 Council for Healthcare Regulatory Excellence 18,975 5,841 
			 General Social Care Council 44,009 n/a 
			 Health Protection Agency 1,100 0 
			 Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority 0 0 
			 Human Tissue Authority 0 0 
			 Monitor 0 0 
			 Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency(1) 0 50,000 
			 (1) Denotes Executive Agency, estimate of staff cost spread across the Agency.

Doctors: Training

Nicholas Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what steps he is taking to ensure that all graduates of medical schools in the UK are able to gain a place on the 2012 Foundation Programme; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  what recent discussions he has had with representatives of the UK Foundation Programme Office on plans for responding to any oversubscription to the 2012 Foundation Programme; and if he will make a statement.

Anne Milton: Each year the devolved Administration and Medical Education England Medical Programme Board agree a contingency plan for management of over or under subscription to the Foundation Programme.
	The contingency plan for managing over or under subscription to the Foundation Programme 2012 is being reviewed by the UK Foundation Programme Office in March 2011.
	The number of graduates of United Kingdom medical schools who choose to apply to the Foundation Programme 2012 will not be known until October 2011.

Drugs: Finance

James Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much the NHS spent on medicines for  (a) primary care,  (b) secondary care and  (c) in total for each of the last five years for which figures are available.

Simon Burns: National health service medicines expenditure in primary care reflects amounts paid to pharmacy and appliance contractors and amounts authorised for dispensing doctors and personal administration in England. Secondary care medicines expenditure includes medical gases. Drugs prescribed in hospitals but dispensed in the community are also included in the secondary care figures.
	The following table provides details of the NHS medicines expenditure for the last five years.
	
		
			  NHS medicines expenditure 
			  £ million 
			   Primary care  Secondary care  Total 
			 2005-06 7,235 2,764 9,999 
			 2006-07 7,593 2,969 10,562 
			 2007-08 7,663 3,274 10,937 
			 2008-09 7,749 3,647 11,397 
			 2009-10 7,946 3,974 11,920 
			  Source: Prescription Pricing Division of the NHS Business Services Authority, England, Department of Health Finance Division, Foundation Trust year-end accounts.

GP Consortia

Tom Blenkinsop: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent assessment he has made of the likely effect of  (a) UK and  (b) EU competition rules on the operation of GP consortia.

Simon Burns: The Health and Social Care Bill itself does not extend the applicability of current United Kingdom or European Union competition law to the health sector of England.
	However, as national health service providers develop and begin to compete actively with other NHS providers and private and voluntary providers, UK and EU competition laws will increasingly become applicable.

Health Services: Reciprocal Arrangements

Jeremy Lefroy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the monetary value of payments made to other European countries for healthcare provided to British citizens under the European Health Insurance Card was in the latest period for which figures are available; and what the monetary value of payments received from other European countries under the same scheme was in the same period.

Anne Milton: For 2009-10, under European Union (EU) Regulations 1408/71 and 574/72, the United Kingdom received £27,714,514.77 from member states of the European economic area (EEA). Over the same period, the UK paid £131,643,287.52 to other member states.
	The amounts paid relate to combined claims for temporary visitors (via European health insurance cards) workers temporarily posted abroad by their employer and referrals for treatment in other EEA countries. Due to the nature of the claims system between member states, it is not currently possible to disaggregate the data consistently for all member states by either type of claim or type of treatment.
	Under EU regulations, claims are made on a calendar year basis, and payments made in any one financial year may relate to one or more prior calendar years.

Health Services: Reciprocal Arrangements

Penny Mordaunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many disputes arising from the receipt of healthcare in the European Economic Area by UK nationals for which a charge was subsequently made have been brought to the attention of his Department in the last five years; whether there are proposals at EU level to reform the European Health Insurance Card system; and if he will make a statement.

Anne Milton: The following table shows the number of claims for reimbursement for incurred costs for state-provided necessary health care in another member state of the European Economic Area (EEA) and Switzerland over the last five years.
	
		
			  Calendar year  Number of claims for reimbursement for necessary care 
			 2006 10,093 
			 2007 10,299 
			 2008 13,328 
			 2009 18,090 
			 2010 17,755 
		
	
	Where a citizen has been charged for state necessary treatment provided during a visit to another EEA member state or Switzerland, they can submit a claim to the Department for Work and Pensions, and a reimbursement is made.
	The Department of Health is not aware of any European Union level plans to reform the European Health Insurance Card (EHIC). The Department has, however, raised the issue of non-acceptance of the EHIC, with the European Commission, in a recent evaluation of how the scheme is implemented and administered in member states.

Health: Tendring

Douglas Carswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will assess the likely effects of implementation of his proposed changes to the NHS on health inequalities in Tendring.

Anne Milton: The Government have made it clear that tackling health inequalities is a priority, with a focus on equity and fairness. The Government have made a set of proposals to reduce health inequalities in all areas of England.
	The White Paper, 'Equity and Excellence: Liberating the NHS', published on 12 July 2010, set out proposals for the establishment of an independent National Health Service Commissioning Board and a new NHS Outcomes Framework to help tackle inequalities, promote equality, and act as a catalyst for driving up quality across all NHS services.
	The Health and Social Care Bill 2011 proposes introducing new legal duties for the Secretary of State, the NHS Commissioning Board and general practice commissioning consortia to have regard to addressing health inequalities.

Herbal Medicine: Regulation

Julian Huppert: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what criteria he plans to apply to the regulation of unlicensed herbal medicines; and if he will make a statement.

Simon Burns: We recently announced proposals that practitioners wishing to supply unlicensed herbal medicines should be required to be registered with the Health Professions Council. This will enable us to use a derogation in European medicines legislation which permits national arrangements allowing those designated as authorised healthcare professionals to commission an unlicensed medicine on their professional responsibility to meet the special needs of their individual patient. Under these arrangements we would envisage similar criteria applying to practitioners of herbal medicine as is the case with a range of other healthcare practitioners in the United Kingdom who can already commission unlicensed medicines, known as "specials", under such a scheme. Safeguards for the patients are provided primarily by a combination of professional regulation of the practitioner and by the role of the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency in regulating the manufacturers and distributors of the products.
	We also propose that in future practitioners of herbal medicine wishing to use the provisions of section 12(1) of the Medicines Act 1968 to prepare unlicensed herbal remedies on their own premises to meet the needs of individual patient identified in consultation should be required to register with the Health Professions Council. The introduction of this requirement should strengthen safeguards for patients while ensuring consumers continue to have access to herbal medicines. There will be public consultation on all these proposals.
	At 30 April 2011, following the end of the period of transitional protection allowed under Directive 2004/24/EC, section 12(2) of the Medicines Act 1968 will no longer be available. This provision permitted the marketing of unlicensed herbal remedies in the UK without a requirement for patient consultation and incorporated few safeguards for patients as to the safety and quality of the product or the provision of information about the safe use of the medicine. In future such products will require either a marketing authorisation or a traditional herbal registration.

Homeopathy

Julian Huppert: To ask the Secretary of State for Health with reference to the Government response to the petition to the Prime Minister which closed on 6 June 2010 on the recommendations of the Science and Technology Committee's evidence check on homeopathy, what evidence his Department has evaluated on the clinical effectiveness of any homeopathic product.

Anne Milton: The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) agreed to consider complementary and alternative medicine treatments, including homeopathy as part of its clinical guidelines programme where appropriate and where suitable evidence exists. NICE has not recommended a homeopathic treatment as yet.
	There is information available regarding evidence for homeopathy on the NHS Evidence website which can be accessed at:
	www.evidence.nhs.uk/search.aspx?t=homeopathy

Hospitals: Admissions

Anne-Marie Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many patients were admitted to hospital in  (a) Devon and  (b) England in the last 12 months for which figures are available.

Simon Burns: The data requested are shown in the following table:
	
		
			  Count of finished admission episodes in Devon primary care trust (PCT) and England for the latest available 12 months 
			   Devon PCT  England 
			 November 2009 to October 2010 170,103 14,714,309 
			  Notes: 1. A finished admission episode (FAE) is the first period of inpatient care under one consultant within one health care provider. FAEs are counted against the year in which the admission episode finishes. 2. Admissions do not represent the number of in-patients, as a person may have more than one admission within the year. 3. The data are provisional and may be incomplete or contain errors for which no adjustments have yet been made.  Source: Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), The NHS Information Centre for health and social care

Hospitals: Babies

Philip Hollobone: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will assess the merits of the new system for bar coded wrist and ankle bands for babies recently introduced at Kettering General Hospital for the purposes of ascertaining its suitability for wider application across the NHS.

Anne Milton: The system introduced at the Kettering General Hospital NHS Foundation Trust is an excellent example of the benefits achievable through use of bar code technology in the national health service. The Department encourages the adoption of this and other auto-identity and data capture technologies across the NHS, based on the use of recognised barcode information standards which have been ratified by the NHS Information Standards Board.

Medical Certificates: Offenders

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much the Probation Service spent on doctors' notes for offenders in connection with non-attendance for part of community sentences in each of the last three years.

Paul Burstow: This information is not collected by the Department.
	Doctor's notes, including notes explaining absence from part of community sentences for medical reasons, are not provided by the national health service. Doctors provide notes privately and may charge a fee for signing any note or letter where a review of a patient's medical records is required.

Mental Illness: Advertising

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment his Department has made on the effects of advertising on  (a) adult and  (b) child mental health.

Paul Burstow: No such assessment has been made, however, Shift, the Department's programme to reduce the stigma and discrimination directed towards people with mental health problems was extended in order to work alongside 'Time to Change', the £18 million charity sector-led anti-stigma and well-being social marketing campaign. Shift's work complements that of Time to Change by focusing on two key audiences, one of which is the media.
	The work with the media is aimed at improving media coverage of mental health and in particular challenging the link made between severe mental illness and violence.
	Guidance on best practice for reporting mental health has been distributed to more than 10,000 journalists, which focuses on covering violence and suicide.
	Training on reporting mental illness and suicide is being delivered to postgraduate students at journalism training colleges and the Shift Speakers Bureau, a bank of people willing to talk about their real life experiences of mental illness, has become an essential resource for journalists and a way of ensuring that people's voices are heard.

Midwives: Training

Tom Blenkinsop: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the requirement for  (a) training and  (b) employment of midwives in the next five years.

Anne Milton: The Government recognise that the vast majority of our midwives provide excellent care, however ongoing education and training is vital to keeping standards high. That is why we are working closely with the Nursing and Midwifery Council, the independent body with regulatory responsibility for midwifery educational standards, to make sure that training programmes reflect the best possible learning outcomes.
	The Government are committed to training the numbers of midwives needed, and is considering ways of helping to improve midwife recruitment and retention.
	The final report "Midwifery 2020: delivering expectations" (September 2010) underpins the vision of how midwives can lead and deliver care in a changing health care environment in line with the proposals in the White Paper "Equity and Excellence: Liberating the NHS" and the supporting consultation document, "Liberating the NHS: Developing the Healthcare Workforce".
	As part of the 2011-12 Operating Planning process, the Department is collecting projections on the midwifery workforce up to March 2015 from strategic health authorities. This information will be published in due course.

Midwives: Training

Fiona Mactaggart: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many places for student midwives there were in  (a) England and  (b) each region in academic year 2010-11.

Anne Milton: There were 5,644 midwifery students in training in June 2010, the latest figures we have available.
	
		
			  NHS midwifery training places commissioned since 2005-06 
			   2005-06  2006-07  2007-08  2008-09  2009-10  2010-11 
			 Degree 891 983 1,307 1,944 1,977 1,967 
			 Diploma 397 540 412 0 0 0 
			 18 months 531 467 352 328 505 526 
			 Total 1,819 1,990 2,071 2,272 2,482 2,493 
		
	
	
		
			  NHS midwifery training places commissioned, 2008 and 2009 by strategic health authority 
			   2008  2009 
			   Degree  18-month diploma  Total  Degree  18-month diploma  Total 
			 North East 66 20 86 67 25 92 
			 North West 218 39 257 228 35 263 
			 Yorks and Humber 176 35 211 242 27 269 
			 East Midlands 142 15 157 146 33 179 
			 West Midlands 226 69 295 277 53 330 
			 East of England 228 48 276 235 54 289 
			 London 454 0 454 335 176 511 
			 South East Coast 144 59 203 125 53 178 
			 South Central 142 31 173 178 25 203 
			 South West 148 12 160 144 24 168 
			  Source: Quarterly Monitoring Returns.

Musculoskeletal Disorders

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans his Department has to improve outcomes for those with musculoskeletal problems.

Paul Burstow: The first "NHS Outcomes Framework 2011/12", published 20 December 2010, sets out the national outcome goals that will be used to hold the proposed NHS Commissioning Board to account for delivering improved outcomes. Although, there is not a specific outcome indicator for musculoskeletal disorders in the NHS Outcomes Framework, we would expect progress to be captured under Domain 2: Enhancing the quality of life for people with long-term conditions and Domain 3: Helping people to recover from episodes of ill health or following injury.
	However, the Secretary of State for Health, the right hon. Member for South Cambridgeshire (Mr Lansley), will not be setting out how these outcomes should be delivered, it will be for the NHS Commissioning Board to determine how best to deliver improvements by working with general practitioner (GP) commissioning consortia.
	The NHS Commissioning Board will have various tools and levers at its disposal to help deliver improved outcomes, which include the library of the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence Quality Standards; the Commissioning Outcomes Framework, which the NHS Commissioning Board will use to hold GP commissioning consortia to account; and other payment mechanisms between the NHS Commissioning Board, commissioners and providers.
	The tools and levers available to the NHS Commissioning Board are described more fully in both "The NHS Outcomes Framework 2011/12", and "Liberating the NHS: legislative framework and next steps", which is available at:
	www.dh.gov.uk/prod_consum_dh/groups/dh_digitalassets/@dh/@en/@ps/documents/digitalasset/dh_123138.pdf
	www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Publications/PublicationsPolicyAndGuidance/DH_122661
	Copies have already been placed in the Library.

Musculoskeletal Disorders: Medical Treatments

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of expenditure on treatment of problems of the musculoskeletal system in the next three years.

Paul Burstow: The Department has made no estimate of expenditure on problems of the musculoskeletal system in the next three years. Decisions on such expenditure are made at a local level, by primary care trusts in 2011-12 and, subject to the passage of the Health and Social Care Bill currently before Parliament, by general practitioner consortia from 2012-13.

NHS

Chris Skidmore: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will publish the external advice received by Ministers in his Department prior to 5 May 2010 on  (a) the 2010-11 operating framework-maximum price tariff, published on 16 December 2009,  (b) the achievement of efficiency savings and  (c) the effects on quality of competition in the NHS.

Simon Burns: There are no plans to publish external advice received by Ministers in the previous administration in relation to these issues.
	It is an established convention that Ministers of a current Administration may not generally see documents of a former Administration of a different political party.

NHS: Dairy Products

Thomas Docherty: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the volume of milk purchased by the NHS in England in the last 12 months for which figures are available; and how much the NHS spent on  (a) milk and  (b) other dairy products in that period.

Simon Burns: Information on expenditure on these goods by the national health service is held by NHS Supply Chain (NHS SC), the national supplies and distribution organisation established by the Department in 2006. The figures are that the NHS spent £9.5 million on purchasing milk in 2009-10 through NHS SC, and £0.5 million on purchasing other dairy products for the same period. NHS SC estimate that this forms approximately 50% of the market share for the NHS as a whole. NHS SC does not hold information on the actual volume of these products sold by their suppliers.
	Purchases of these products other than through NHS SC will be done at individual NHS trust level or through local collaborative procurement hubs. Information on expenditure by these routes is not held centrally.

NHS: Expenditure

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate has been made of public expenditure on health as a proportion of  (a) GDP and  (b) total public expenditure in each of the last 10 years for which figures are available.

Simon Burns: The relevant statistics are in the following table. The table has been constructed using HM Treasury statistical information sources.
	
		
			  United Kingdom health spending as a percentage of gross domestic product (GDP) 
			UK health public spending (£ billion)  Public health spending as a percentage of GDP  Public health spending as a percentage of total managed expenditure 
			 Accruals 
			 1998-99 outturn 46.9 5.3 14.2 
			 1999-2000 outturn 49.4 5.2 14.4 
			 2000-01 outturn 54.2 5.5 14.9 
			 2001-02 outturn 59.8 5.8 15.4 
			 2002-03 outturn 66.2 6.1 15.7 
			 2003-04 outturn 74.9 6.5 16.4 
			 2004-05 outturn 82.9 6.8 16.8 
			 2005-06 outturn 89.6 7.0 17.1 
			 2006-07 outturn 94.5 7.0 17.2 
			 2007-08 outturn 102.2 7.2 17.5 
			 2008-09 outturn 110.0 7.7 17.4 
			  Source: Tables 4.1/4.2 HM Treasury PESA 2010

NHS: Finance

Tony Baldry: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has for the future funding of the nhs.net service from 2013.

Simon Burns: The current contract for provision of the secure NHSmail email and directory service for the national health service in England and Scotland expires in 2013. Expenditure plans for the service in future years have yet to be finalised.

NHS: Redundancy

Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will estimate the number of  (a) compulsory and  (b) voluntary redundancies in NHS non-clinical staff which will occur in (i) the London borough of Newham, (ii) West Ham constituency and (iii) London in the next 12 months.

Simon Burns: This information is not collected centrally. The hon. Member may wish to contact the London strategic health authority directly for estimated figures.

Nutrition

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the estimated average calorific intake of  (a) children and  (b) adults was in each of the last 10 years.

Anne Milton: Average daily calorie (energy) intakes for adults and children are available from the National Diet and Nutrition Survey. To date, this data has not been collected annually. However, information is available for calorific intake for 2008-09 for adults and children, in 2000-01 for adults and in 1997 for children. This survey is currently funded as a rolling programme.
	Average daily energy intake (kcal) is provided in the table.
	
		
			   Energy intake (kcal/day) 
			  Age (years)  2008-09  2000-01  1997 
			 4-10 1,558 - 1,600 
			 11-18 1,917 - 1,890 
			 19-64 1,949 1,934 -

Patients: Foreigners

Brian Binley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  how many foreign patients treated in hospitals who were liable for the cost of their treatment did not pay for treatment in  (a) 2007-08,  (b) 2008-09 and  (c) 2009-10;
	(2)  how much his Department was owed in payments for treatment provided to foreign nationals in hospitals in England in  (a) 2007-08,  (b) 2008-09 and  (c) 2009-10.

Anne Milton: The following table shows the total audited losses, bad debt and claims abandoned for overseas visitors for years 2007-08 to 2009-10, for England. As well as written-off debt for foreign nationals who are not ordinarily resident in the United Kingdom, these data include written-off debt for UK nationals who are not ordinarily resident here. Further, it does not include monies owed that hospitals are still in the process of recovering.
	
		
			   Bad debts and claims abandoned in respect of overseas patients (£) 
			 2007-08 6,468,751 
			 2008-09 5,204,856 
			 2009-10 6,967,780 
			  Note:   We do not collect data from national health service foundation trusts so figures exclude these sites.   Source:  NHS Trust Audited Summarisation Schedules. 
		
	
	The Department does not hold data on the number of foreign nationals treated.

Post-traumatic Stress Disorder

Tobias Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many personnel his Department has appointed to deal with combat stress; what research studies on this issue are being undertaken; and if he will make a statement.

Simon Burns: A team of three people work full time on all military health and veterans' health issues within the Department. These include those which relate to the effect combat can have on the mental health of those who have served in the armed forces. Responsibility for the health and wellbeing of those currently serving lies with the Ministry of Defence. The Department is currently working closely with the 10 strategic health authorities to deliver the improvements to veterans' mental health services suggested in Dr. Andrew Murrison's report, "Fighting Fit".
	On research, the National Institute of Health Research (NIHR) is funding Professor Simon Wessely as a Senior Investigator. Professor Wessely is Director of the King's Centre for Military Health Research Unit at King's College London. For the last 10 years, his research has shifted towards various aspects of military health including the physical and psychological consequences of military service.

Prescription Drugs: Royal College of General Practitioners

Eric Ollerenshaw: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether his Department has consulted the Royal College of General Practitioners as part of its review of addiction to prescribed medicine.

Anne Milton: The Department has commissioned two reports to investigate addiction to medicines.
	The National Treatment Agency for Substance Misuse (NTA) has been asked to collect evidence through:
	an analysis of National Drug Treatment Monitoring System and pharmacy data to investigate prevalence and trends;
	structured interviews with targeted primary care trusts and local drug partnerships to better understand the governance of prescribing and the commissioning and provision of services to treat addiction to prescription and over the counter medicines; and
	surveys and structured interviews with dedicated and specialist providers to determine what is being provided and how local services are configured.
	The National Addiction Centre (NAC) is conducting a literature review to bring together the published evidence on the health effects of use of these drugs and the treatment and management interventions for addiction to them.
	The NTA and NAC reports will be published in the next couple of months. Following publication, we will be engaging widely with interested parties, including the Royal College of General Practitioners, to determine the future direction of policy and service planning.

Social Services: Elderly

Paul Uppal: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what progress his Department is making on a voluntary scheme for payments towards the cost of social care for the elderly.

Paul Burstow: In July 2010, the Government established the independent Commission on Funding of Care and Support to make recommendations on how to achieve an affordable and sustainable funding system or systems for care and support for all adults in England, both in the home and other settings.
	The Commission is due to report by July this year. More information about its work can be found online at:
	www.dilnotcommission.dh.gov.uk
	The Government will publish a White Paper on social care by the end of 2011.

Sodium Valproate

Teresa Pearce: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will request the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency to review the safety of sodium valproate.

Simon Burns: The safety, efficacy and quality of all medicines is thoroughly evaluated by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency at the time of licensing and their safety is monitored continuously while they are on the market.
	Sodium valproate is an effective treatment for epilepsy. Important known risks of sodium valproate include effects on the pancreas, liver disorders and the risk of birth defects in babies born to women who take sodium valproate during pregnancy.
	The product information for prescribers (the Summary of Product Characteristics) and the Patient Information Leaflet for sodium valproate contains detailed information about its known adverse effects. As new data emerge the product information is updated to reflect the recognised adverse effects. Warnings about the known side effects of sodium valproate are also reflected in the British National Formulary and in the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence guidance on the treatment of epilepsy in adults and children.

Standing Commission on Carers

Stephen Gilbert: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has for the future of the Standing Commission on Carers; and if he will make a statement.

Paul Burstow: The Standing Commission on Carers made a significant contribution to the development of "Recognised, valued and supported: next steps for the Carers Strategy" which we published in November 2010. A copy has already been placed in the Library. The Commission will continue to play a valuable role in advising Ministers across Government on the strategic opportunities for improving outcomes for carers, drawing upon its members' extensive networks and experience. I plan to attend the next meeting of the Standing Commission on 16 March, to discuss its work programme for the year ahead. Once agreed the work programme will be placed on the Commission's webpage.

Streptococcus: Screening

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the  (a) clinical and  (b) cost effectiveness of introducing screening for group B streptococcus for all pregnant women; and what steps he plans to take to raise awareness among (i) pregnant women and (ii) healthcare professionals of group B streptococcus.

Anne Milton: The UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC) advises Ministers and the national health service in all four countries about all aspects of screening policy. The UK NSC reviewed the policy for screening for Group B Streptococcus (GBS) carriage in pregnancy in 2009. The review was the subject of a broad consultation and concluded that the evidence did not support the introduction of screening.
	The UK NSC had previously commissioned a clinical and cost-effectiveness study comparing different approaches to GBS. The health technology assessment took this work forward on behalf of the UK NSC and published the results in 2007. The main conclusion was that there was considerable uncertainty on the most effective approach to GBS. The study results were considered by the UK NSC during the screening policy review in 2009. The UK NSC will review its policy position again on GBS carriage in pregnancy screening in 2012 or earlier if any significant new peer reviewed evidence emerges.
	Information for women on GBS is contained in 'The Pregnancy Book', a guide to a healthy pregnancy, labour and childbirth, and life with a new baby, which is given to all pregnant women. Information is also available on the NHS Choices website at:
	www.nhs.uk/chq/pages/2037.aspx?categoryid= 54&subcategoryid=137
	Women who are concerned about GBS infection are advised to talk to their doctor or midwife.
	Current guidance on the prevention of early-onset neonatal GBS disease is provided by the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists. The guideline advises health care professionals on the management of high risk pregnancies and is currently being reviewed and updated. The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence are currently developing guidance on the management of early onset infections including GBS.

Vitamin D

Yasmin Qureshi: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he expects the Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition to publish its advice on the appropriate levels of vitamin D to be used in supplementation.

Anne Milton: United Kingdom Government policy on nutrition issues is informed by the Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition (SACN).
	SACN agreed to review the dietary reference intakes for vitamin D at its meeting on 15 October 2010. It is envisaged that the review will take approximately three years to complete.

Walking

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment his Department has made of the contribution of walking to mental and physical health.

Paul Burstow: The benefits of physical activity are outlined in the Public Health White Paper and associated documents.
	The recently published mental health strategy "No Health Without Mental Health" and associated documents also highlight the benefits of physical activity in improving outcomes for mental health and wellbeing.
	There are other sources of information that have been produced which provide an evidence base that includes the health and wellbeing benefits of physical activity, for example the Department's "Confident Communities, Brighter Futures-a Framework for Wellbeing" sets out the argument and evidence base for prioritising well-being.